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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: snap · vault · rest · drill · plane · hand · wound · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. vault — a safe
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. march — music
  7. rest — a break
  8. drill — army training
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. rest — what's left
  12. wound — an injury
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. snap — to click
  16. plane — a tool
  17. march — the month
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rest — what's left
  20. drill — a practice
  21. hand — in cards
  22. drill — the tool
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. plane — an aircraft

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