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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: roll · file · pound · drill · march · cell · spell · stem

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. march — the month
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. pound — a weight
  5. file — a tool
  6. spell — magic
  7. roll — a list
  8. drill — army training
  9. drill — a practice
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. drill — the tool
  13. spell — a short time
  14. march — the month
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cell — a phone
  17. stem — to come from
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. roll — a cake
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. march — music
  24. file — a document

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