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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. ground — the earth
  4. drill — army training
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. drill — the tool
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. row — a line
  10. saw — the tool
  11. ground — a position
  12. saw — the tool
  13. march — the month
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. march — the month
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. drill — a practice
  20. row — to paddle
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. ground — crushed

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