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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. spell — a short time
  3. last — to go on
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bore — to tire
  6. file — a line of people
  7. spell — letters
  8. season — in sport
  9. hand — help
  10. file — a tool
  11. drill — the tool
  12. tear — to rip
  13. last — finally
  14. file — a document
  15. spell — magic
  16. hand — in cards
  17. season — of the year
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bore — to drill
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. tear — from crying
  22. last — final
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. drill — a practice

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