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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: hand · band · march · safe · swing · deal · wound · drill

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. march — the month
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. march — music
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — army training
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. hand — help
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. hand — in cards
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. swing — in golf
  18. band — a music group
  19. wound — an injury
  20. march — the month
  21. band — a ring
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. deal — to handle
  24. drill — a practice

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