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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 116 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: ground · current · game · shower · drill · root · march · fall

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. ground — a position
  3. game — wild animals
  4. drill — a practice
  5. fall — the season
  6. game — a match
  7. fall — to drop
  8. march — the month
  9. ground — crushed
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. current — electric
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. root — the cause
  14. current — happening now
  15. current — of water
  16. root — of a word
  17. fall — to drop
  18. shower — rain
  19. ground — the earth
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. shower — to wash
  23. drill — the tool
  24. root — of a plant

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