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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 120 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: bound · drill · field · key · squash · wound · march · deal

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. march — the month
  3. deal — to handle
  4. key — the most important part
  5. march — music
  6. bound — tied together
  7. key — in music
  8. wound — an injury
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. field — farmland
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. march — the month
  13. drill — a practice
  14. field — a subject
  15. squash — to crush
  16. wound — an injury
  17. drill — army training
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. bound — certain
  21. drill — the tool
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bound — obliged
  24. field — for sport

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