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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. drill — army training
  3. scale — size or range
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. drill — the tool
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. prune — to trim
  8. march — music
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. drill — a practice
  11. march — the month
  12. tear — from crying
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. tear — to rip
  16. scale — in music
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. rush — hurry
  21. prune — to trim
  22. cold — an illness
  23. march — the month
  24. tear — from crying

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