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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 116 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. rash — hasty
  3. capital — a city
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bulb — for light
  6. rash — a series
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — music
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cell — a phone
  16. march — the month
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. cell — in biology
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. capital — money
  22. drill — army training
  23. tear — to rip
  24. drill — a practice

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