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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 teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. shower — to wash
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. fork — in a road
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. march — music
  10. roll — a cake
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. march — the month
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. drill — a practice
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. drill — the tool
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. drill — army training
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. shower — rain

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