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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. dip — to sink
  5. tear — from crying
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. shower — rain
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. net — after costs
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. pop — to visit
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. march — the month
  16. march — music
  17. net — for catching
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. wound — an injury
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pop — soda
  22. wound — an injury
  23. pop — music
  24. net — in sport

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