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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: lie · race · land · wind · trunk · march · roll · file

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. land — a country
  3. wind — moving air
  4. file — a document
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. race — the arms race
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. march — music
  10. file — a line of people
  11. lie — to recline
  12. roll — a list
  13. file — a tool
  14. race — humankind
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. wind — moving air
  17. march — the month
  18. march — the month
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. roll — a cake
  21. land — to come down
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. land — ground

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