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

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. drill — the tool
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bat — the animal
  6. prune — to trim
  7. prune — to trim
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. drill — a practice
  11. last — finally
  12. bank — for money
  13. march — the month
  14. bank — of a river
  15. march — the month
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. drill — army training
  18. last — final
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. march — music
  21. last — to go on
  22. object — an aim
  23. bank — for money
  24. bat — in an idiom

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