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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: prune · drill · cold · mate · sharp · mouse · march · bound

  1. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — for a computer
  2. mate — a friend
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bound — certain
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. bound — tied together
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. drill — a practice
  12. sharp — clever
  13. march — music
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bound — obliged
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mate — a partner
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — army training
  21. mate — to breed
  22. march — the month
  23. prune — to trim
  24. march — the month

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