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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: game · land · ruler · drill · fork · march · stock · track

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. game — a match
  3. drill — a practice
  4. land — a country
  5. track — to keep track
  6. land — to come down
  7. march — music
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. track — a path
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. drill — army training
  12. stock — goods
  13. march — the month
  14. march — the month
  15. game — wild animals
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. track — a song
  18. drill — the tool
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. land — ground
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. fork — in a road
  24. stock — shares

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