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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 · wake · band · fork · mine · bulb · ground · wound

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — the earth
  5. wound — an injury
  6. march — the month
  7. fork — in a road
  8. wound — an injury
  9. band — a ring
  10. march — the month
  11. ground — crushed
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. march — music
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bulb — for light
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. bulb — for light

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