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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 · wound · land · cold · perch · band · rock · safe

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. land — ground
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. march — music
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. land — to come down
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. rock — music
  12. rock — a stone
  13. march — the month
  14. perch — the fish
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. march — the month
  18. land — a country
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a music group
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. band — a ring
  24. safe — a strongbox

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