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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: pit · cell · perch · file · march · wave · drill · rock

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. drill — a practice
  5. file — a tool
  6. rock — music
  7. march — music
  8. file — a document
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. pit — a hole
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. cell — a phone
  17. rock — a stone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. drill — the tool
  22. pit — in a race
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. file — a line of people

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