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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: nail · ground · mine · spring · saw · march · drill · bat

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. drill — army training
  3. ground — crushed
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. march — the month
  6. drill — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. ground — the earth
  9. spring — a coil
  10. spring — the season
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. mine — for digging
  15. ground — a position
  16. spring — of water
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. drill — a practice
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. march — music
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. march — the month
  24. bat — the animal

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