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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 120 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: wind · scale · bound · wax · row · march · drill · net

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. drill — a practice
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. scale — in music
  5. net — in sport
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. bound — obliged
  8. net — after costs
  9. row — a line
  10. drill — the tool
  11. march — the month
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wax — to grow
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. bound — tied together
  16. bound — certain
  17. march — the month
  18. row — to paddle
  19. drill — army training
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. march — music
  22. net — for catching
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. wind — moving air

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