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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: file · straw · march · craft · drill · kick · tube · jam

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — a container
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. march — the month
  7. drill — army training
  8. kick — in football
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. craft — boats
  11. file — a tool
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. file — a line of people
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. drill — a practice
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. craft — a skill
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. march — music
  20. drill — the tool
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. straw — dry grass

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