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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: current · band · clip · mark · march · lean · court · race

  1. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. current — of water
  2. race — humankind
  3. march — the month
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. race — the arms race
  7. march — the month
  8. lean — thin
  9. current — happening now
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. race — a contest
  12. clip — a video
  13. lean — to bend
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. mark — a grade
  17. mark — a trace
  18. court — of law
  19. current — electric
  20. band — a ring
  21. march — music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. band — a music group

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