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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. drill — army training
  3. fall — to drop
  4. last — final
  5. wound — an injury
  6. last — finally
  7. fall — to drop
  8. last — to go on
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. stand — to bear
  13. fall — the season
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. drill — a practice
  17. tear — from crying
  18. drill — 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