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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. march — music
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. rash — a series
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — hasty
  19. march — the month
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. jam — a tight spot
  22. march — the month
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tear — to rip

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