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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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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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: mate · kid · drill · court · shower · track · date · march

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. track — a song
  3. mate — to breed
  4. shower — to wash
  5. track — a path
  6. march — the month
  7. kid — to tease
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. mate — a partner
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — child
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. track — to keep track
  18. march — music
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. court — of law
  22. mate — a friend
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — rain

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