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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. land — to come down
  3. tear — from crying
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. march — the month
  6. capital — money
  7. present — there
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. march — music
  11. squash — to crush
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. tear — to rip
  15. present — a gift
  16. row — a line
  17. land — a country
  18. tear — from crying
  19. capital — a city
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — to paddle
  22. squash — the sport
  23. land — ground
  24. march — the month

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