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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: swing · firm · rock · last · cell · march · race · chair

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. firm — a company
  5. march — music
  6. last — final
  7. march — the month
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. last — finally
  11. race — the arms race
  12. rock — music
  13. march — the month
  14. swing — in golf
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. cell — in biology
  18. firm — decided
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chair — a leader
  21. rock — a stone
  22. last — to go on
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. chair — a professorship

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