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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: mouse · march · ground · wound · fork · shower · spell · band

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. ground — a position
  3. shower — rain
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. ground — the earth
  8. band — a music group
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. ground — crushed
  12. fork — in a road
  13. march — the month
  14. spell — a short time
  15. spell — magic
  16. band — a ring
  17. spell — letters
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. march — the month
  21. shower — to wash
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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