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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 124 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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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 · rock · cell · vault · chest · race · bass · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. vault — a safe
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cell — a phone
  5. rock — music
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. race — humankind
  8. cell — in biology
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. race — a contest
  11. chest — a box
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. march — the month
  14. chest — of your body
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. rock — a stone
  19. bass — low music
  20. race — the arms race
  21. bass — the fish
  22. game — a match
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. march — music

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