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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — to go on
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. march — music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. march — the month
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. tear — from crying
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. ground — crushed
  12. tear — to rip
  13. last — finally
  14. tear — from crying
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wound — an injury
  17. last — final
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. ground — the earth
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. pound — a weight
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  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