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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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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 · root · mark · saw · cold · drill · pit · march

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. march — the month
  5. pit — a hole
  6. root — of a word
  7. mark — a trace
  8. drill — the tool
  9. mark — a grade
  10. cold — not warm
  11. march — the month
  12. pit — in a race
  13. staff — employees
  14. saw — the tool
  15. staff — a stick
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a plant
  18. staff — employees
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — army training
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. march — music

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