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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — to get on
  4. net — for catching
  5. drill — a practice
  6. land — to come down
  7. march — the month
  8. drill — army training
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rest — what's left
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — a break
  17. land — a country
  18. board — a committee
  19. drill — the tool
  20. land — ground
  21. shower — rain
  22. rest — what's left
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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