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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: mug · spell · cold · race · fan · march · current · squash

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mug — to rob
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. squash — the sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. race — humankind
  10. current — of water
  11. mug — a face
  12. race — the arms race
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. march — music
  15. mug — a cup
  16. current — electric
  17. spell — letters
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. race — a contest
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. current — happening now

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