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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: march · wound · fan · stem · temple · drill · bass · row

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. stem — to come from
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. row — a line
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. drill — army training
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. bass — low music
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. drill — a practice
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wound — an injury
  19. bass — the fish
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. drill — the tool
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bass — the instrument

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