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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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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: march · rule · mouse · stem · wound · drill · mine · pit

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. drill — army training
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. march — music
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. rule — a law
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. drill — a practice
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pit — a hole
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. pit — in a race
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. stem — to come from
  22. drill — the tool
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. wound — an injury

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