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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: staff · mark · march · last · row · drill · pit · spell

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. staff — employees
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. staff — a stick
  5. march — the month
  6. drill — army training
  7. pit — in a race
  8. mark — a trace
  9. last — finally
  10. staff — employees
  11. march — music
  12. spell — magic
  13. row — a line
  14. mark — a grade
  15. spell — a short time
  16. last — to go on
  17. pit — a hole
  18. row — to paddle
  19. spell — letters
  20. march — the month
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — the tool

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