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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 116 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: race · firm · march · game · press · saw · drill · prune

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. firm — steady
  3. race — a contest
  4. march — music
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. race — the arms race
  7. prune — to trim
  8. press — a publisher
  9. firm — a company
  10. race — humankind
  11. drill — a practice
  12. prune — to trim
  13. saw — the tool
  14. game — wild animals
  15. press — to push
  16. firm — decided
  17. saw — the tool
  18. game — a match
  19. press — newspapers
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. march — the month
  23. drill — army training
  24. march — the month

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