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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: stick · drill · march · spring · kid · net

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. march — the month
  3. spring — of water
  4. kid — child
  5. drill — a practice
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. drill — army training
  8. net — in sport
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. march — the month
  12. net — after costs
  13. drill — the tool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. kid — to tease
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. march — music
  18. net — for catching

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