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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: plane · game · kid · swing · row · race · march · can

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. march — the month
  3. can — to be able to
  4. game — a match
  5. swing — music
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. swing — in golf
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. swing — to play on
  12. kid — to tease
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. plane — a tool
  15. race — a contest
  16. row — a line
  17. race — humankind
  18. row — to paddle
  19. race — the arms race
  20. march — music
  21. game — wild animals
  22. can — a tin
  23. march — the month
  24. can — a tin

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