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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: wake · spring · land · race · rock · squash · shower · march

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. spring — a coil
  3. march — the month
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — a stone
  7. land — to come down
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wake — a trail
  10. spring — of water
  11. march — the month
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — a contest
  15. squash — the sport
  16. rock — music
  17. march — music
  18. race — the arms race
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. shower — rain
  21. spring — the season
  22. shower — to wash
  23. land — ground
  24. squash — to crush

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