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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: march · fork · toast · swing · rash · wound · court · drill

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. drill — the tool
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. toast — bread
  5. march — the month
  6. drill — a practice
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. swing — in golf
  9. swing — to play on
  10. drill — army training
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. march — music
  13. court — for sport
  14. rash — hasty
  15. wound — an injury
  16. march — the month
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. court — of a king
  20. swing — music
  21. court — of law
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. fork — in a road

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