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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. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. march — the month
  3. prune — to trim
  4. season — of the year
  5. can — a tin
  6. march — the month
  7. file — a tool
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tear — from crying
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. file — a line of people
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. file — a document
  14. march — music
  15. roll — a cake
  16. tear — to rip
  17. band — a music group
  18. can — a tin
  19. band — a ring
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. tear — from crying
  22. season — in sport
  23. roll — a list
  24. prune — to trim

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