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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. last — final
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. tear — to rip
  5. wound — an injury
  6. drill — the tool
  7. tear — from crying
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. march — music
  10. last — to go on
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. rest — what's left
  13. ground — a position
  14. rest — a break
  15. tear — from crying
  16. snap — to click
  17. ground — crushed
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ground — the earth
  20. drill — a practice
  21. drill — army training
  22. march — the month
  23. wound — an injury
  24. last — finally

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