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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: net · saw · drill · rash · wound · vault · march · field

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. field — farmland
  5. drill — army training
  6. march — music
  7. march — the month
  8. vault — a safe
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. saw — the tool
  11. wound — an injury
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. net — after costs
  14. drill — a practice
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. rash — a series
  21. march — the month
  22. wound — an injury
  23. drill — the tool
  24. saw — 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