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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: nail · race · date · racket · hide · bark · march · land

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. race — the arms race
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — humankind
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. march — the month
  9. land — to come down
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. march — music
  16. march — the month
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. date — the fruit
  19. land — ground
  20. bark — to shout
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. land — a country

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