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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  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. drill — the tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. scale — size or range
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. can — to be able to
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. tear — from crying
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. can — a tin
  13. scale — in music
  14. can — a tin
  15. root — of a word
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. drill — a practice
  18. tear — to rip
  19. root — the cause
  20. march — the month
  21. mine — for digging
  22. root — of a plant
  23. stem — to come from
  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