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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. tube — the underground
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. tear — from crying
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. spell — magic
  7. march — the month
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. march — the month
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — letters
  15. tear — to rip
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tube — a container
  21. spell — a short time
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — a sick person

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