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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 116 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: row · present · march · chair · ground · pound · kid · drill

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. march — the month
  4. drill — army training
  5. ground — a position
  6. present — there
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. kid — to tease
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — the tool
  12. ground — the earth
  13. march — the month
  14. present — the time now
  15. kid — child
  16. march — music
  17. present — a gift
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. ground — crushed
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. pound — a weight
  23. chair — a leader
  24. pound — to hit hard

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