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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. march — music
  4. net — in sport
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. branch — a division
  11. present — a gift
  12. net — after costs
  13. sharp — clever
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. date — the fruit
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. present — the time now
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. tear — from crying
  21. present — there
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. tear — to rip

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