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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · stick · cell · file · club · wound

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. club — for golf
  3. march — music
  4. wound — an injury
  5. file — a tool
  6. club — a group
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. file — a line of people
  10. club — for dancing
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cell — in biology
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — an injury
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. cell — a phone
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. file — a document

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