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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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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: plane · drill · root · race · march · fork · clip · rule

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. root — the cause
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. race — the arms race
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. race — humankind
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. root — of a plant
  9. race — a contest
  10. march — music
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. drill — a practice
  14. drill — the tool
  15. rule — a law
  16. drill — army training
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. fork — in a road
  19. plane — a tool
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — a video
  22. root — of a word
  23. rule — government
  24. fork — a garden tool

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