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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  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. drill — army training
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. drill — the tool
  4. track — a song
  5. march — music
  6. file — a document
  7. court — of a king
  8. file — a tool
  9. court — for sport
  10. track — to keep track
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. drill — a practice
  13. current — electric
  14. march — the month
  15. sharp — clever
  16. court — of law
  17. bark — to shout
  18. current — of water
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. file — a line of people
  22. track — a path
  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