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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: clip · ground · march · wind · saw · drill · wound · ruler

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. wound — an injury
  3. drill — the tool
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. drill — army training
  7. saw — the tool
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. clip — for paper
  11. saw — the tool
  12. march — music
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. clip — a video
  15. ground — the earth
  16. drill — a practice
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. clip — to cut
  20. march — the month
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — crushed

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