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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · hand · march · chest · racket · current · track · mark

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a trace
  4. track — a song
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. mark — a grade
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. march — the month
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. game — a match
  12. hand — help
  13. current — electric
  14. march — the month
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. track — to keep track
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. current — happening now
  21. chest — a box
  22. march — music
  23. track — a path
  24. game — wild animals

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com