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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. march — music
  3. last — finally
  4. last — to go on
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bear — the animal
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. band — a ring
  9. band — a music group
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. last — final
  13. land — a country
  14. land — to come down
  15. degree — an amount
  16. march — the month
  17. degree — from a university
  18. land — ground
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bear — the animal
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. tear — from crying
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. march — the month

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