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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: march · snap · season · race · ball · press · stock · mine

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Did you ________________ the button?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. snap — to click
  3. press — to push
  4. ball — a dance
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — goods
  11. race — humankind
  12. march — the month
  13. ball — a great time
  14. press — a publisher
  15. stock — shares
  16. season — of the year
  17. mine — for digging
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. season — in sport
  20. march — music
  21. press — newspapers
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. race — a contest
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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