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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: rest · cell · perch · drill · band · march · season · ground

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. ground — a position
  4. band — a music group
  5. rest — what's left
  6. ground — the earth
  7. cell — a phone
  8. perch — the fish
  9. band — a ring
  10. ground — crushed
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. season — in sport
  13. rest — a break
  14. drill — the tool
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. rest — what's left
  17. drill — army training
  18. season — of the year
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. cell — in biology

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