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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: drill · tube · march · game · wake · spell · stock · mug

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — a container
  4. game — a match
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. stock — goods
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. mug — to rob
  9. spell — a short time
  10. game — wild animals
  11. spell — letters
  12. spell — magic
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. mug — a face
  15. drill — army training
  16. march — the month
  17. drill — the tool
  18. mug — a cup
  19. stock — shares
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. drill — a practice
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. march — music
  24. wake — a trail

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