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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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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: net · race · bay · cold · march · roll · content · straw

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. race — the arms race
  3. net — for catching
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. march — music
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. race — humankind
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. roll — a cake
  11. net — in sport
  12. content — happy
  13. net — after costs
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cold — an illness
  20. roll — a list
  21. march — the month
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. race — a contest
  24. march — the month

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