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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: bound · tear · drill · leaves · squash · saw · march · field

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. squash — the sport
  3. tear — to rip
  4. march — the month
  5. drill — a practice
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. field — farmland
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. saw — the tool
  10. tear — from crying
  11. march — music
  12. bound — tied together
  13. drill — army training
  14. march — the month
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. squash — to crush
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. field — for sport
  20. field — a subject
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — obliged
  24. saw — the tool

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