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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: racket · chest · present · cell · bank · march · race · last

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. chest — a box
  3. bank — of a river
  4. cell — a phone
  5. race — a contest
  6. bank — for money
  7. chest — of your body
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — of your body
  10. march — the month
  11. race — the arms race
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. march — music
  14. last — to go on
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. present — a gift
  17. present — the time now
  18. last — final
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. present — there
  21. last — finally
  22. race — humankind
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bank — for money

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