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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 120 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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. march — the month
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. march — music
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. drill — army training
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. drill — a practice
  11. file — a document
  12. board — to get on
  13. drill — the tool
  14. mark — a trace
  15. tear — from crying
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. board — a committee
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mark — a grade
  21. file — a line of people
  22. march — the month
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. file — a tool

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