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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 120 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. bound — certain
  4. club — for dancing
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. club — for golf
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — music
  12. bound — tied together
  13. club — a group
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. present — a gift
  16. bound — obliged
  17. march — the month
  18. present — there
  19. drill — a practice
  20. march — the month
  21. wind — moving air
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. present — the time now
  24. cold — not warm

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