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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. drill — a practice
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. march — the month
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. hand — help
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. tear — from crying
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. march — the month
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. capital — money
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. march — music
  19. drill — the tool
  20. tear — to rip
  21. tear — from crying
  22. capital — a city
  23. hand — in cards
  24. pound — a weight

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