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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 120 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: hand · drill · land · spring · bound · march · mark · race

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bound — tied together
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. race — a contest
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — certain
  8. drill — a practice
  9. hand — in cards
  10. march — the month
  11. spring — of water
  12. drill — army training
  13. spring — the season
  14. land — a country
  15. land — to come down
  16. march — the month
  17. mark — a grade
  18. race — humankind
  19. land — ground
  20. mark — a trace
  21. hand — help
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. race — the arms race
  24. spring — a coil

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