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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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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: march · roll · stem · race · fork · scale · clip · bound

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. roll — a cake
  3. stem — to come from
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. bound — tied together
  6. scale — size or range
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. race — humankind
  9. march — the month
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. scale — in music
  16. bound — certain
  17. fork — in a road
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. clip — a video
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. roll — a list
  24. bound — obliged

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