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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: cell · fork · drill · march · date · rule · bank · spring

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. march — the month
  3. rule — a law
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. bank — of a river
  6. spring — the season
  7. cell — in biology
  8. march — music
  9. date — the fruit
  10. bank — for money
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rule — government
  13. cell — a phone
  14. drill — a practice
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. fork — in a road
  17. drill — the tool
  18. bank — for money
  19. spring — of water
  20. drill — army training
  21. march — the month
  22. spring — a coil
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. fork — to eat with

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