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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. charge — electricity
  5. last — finally
  6. rock — a stone
  7. cold — an illness
  8. charge — in control
  9. charge — a price
  10. last — to go on
  11. tear — to rip
  12. rock — music
  13. march — the month
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. last — final
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pit — in a race
  20. pit — a hole
  21. bark — to shout
  22. cold — not warm
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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