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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 116 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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pop — to visit
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. march — the month
  5. wound — an injury
  6. march — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. bound — tied together
  9. pop — music
  10. bound — certain
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. pop — soda
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — in football
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. hand — in cards
  18. march — the month
  19. bound — obliged
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. drill — army training
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. drill — a practice

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