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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: net · bound · wake · march · drill · board · mine · scale

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. scale — size or range
  3. wake — a trail
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. net — for catching
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. march — the month
  8. scale — in music
  9. board — a committee
  10. net — in sport
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. mine — for digging
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. march — music
  17. bound — tied together
  18. board — to get on
  19. bound — obliged
  20. march — the month
  21. bound — certain
  22. drill — army training
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. net — after costs

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