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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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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: drill · hand · can · net · mark · snap · field · march

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. net — after costs
  5. drill — a practice
  6. can — a tin
  7. march — the month
  8. snap — to click
  9. field — a subject
  10. march — music
  11. drill — the tool
  12. field — for sport
  13. hand — help
  14. field — farmland
  15. can — to be able to
  16. mark — a trace
  17. drill — army training
  18. can — a tin
  19. hand — in cards
  20. net — in sport
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. march — the month
  23. net — for catching
  24. mark — a grade

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