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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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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: fine · kid · march · drill · cell · bark · pound · wake

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bark — to shout
  4. march — the month
  5. wake — a trail
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. march — music
  9. fine — high quality
  10. drill — a practice
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. cell — a phone
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. fine — all right
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. march — the month
  18. drill — army training
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. kid — child
  24. pound — a weight

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