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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 120 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tear — from crying
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. march — the month
  5. swing — to play on
  6. rule — a law
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. swing — in golf
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. march — music
  12. swing — music
  13. march — the month
  14. board — a committee
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. board — to get on
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. squash — to crush
  19. tear — to rip
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cold — not warm
  22. squash — the sport
  23. rule — government
  24. cold — an illness

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