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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: file · bat · march · club · spell · pound · nail · wound

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. wound — an injury
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. march — the month
  6. wound — an injury
  7. club — for golf
  8. spell — a short time
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. pound — a weight
  11. file — a tool
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. spell — letters
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. bat — the animal
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. club — a group
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. spell — magic
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a document
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. club — for dancing

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