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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: wound · drill · craft · march · sharp · mine · straw · key

  1. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. key — the most important part
  2. sharp — clever
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. key — in music
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. craft — a skill
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — for digging
  12. drill — a practice
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. march — the month
  15. drill — army training
  16. march — the month
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. drill — the tool
  20. march — music
  21. craft — boats
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. key — for a lock

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