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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.

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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. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. ground — a position
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cell — a phone
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. drill — a practice
  9. board — a committee
  10. tear — from crying
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. tear — to rip
  13. march — the month
  14. cell — in biology
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ground — crushed
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. fall — the season
  20. drill — army training
  21. ground — the earth
  22. fall — to drop
  23. board — to get on
  24. drill — the 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