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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: date · drill · coach · cell · race · march · capital · swing

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. march — the month
  3. race — a contest
  4. march — music
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. drill — a practice
  7. date — the fruit
  8. swing — in golf
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. race — humankind
  11. swing — to play on
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. race — the arms race
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. capital — money
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. drill — the tool
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — a city
  24. swing — 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