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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Did you ________________ the button?
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. march — music
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. tear — from crying
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. tear — to rip
  8. drill — the tool
  9. spell — magic
  10. mine — for digging
  11. press — newspapers
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — a practice
  14. march — the month
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. tear — from crying
  17. spell — a short time
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. spell — letters
  20. march — the month
  21. band — a ring
  22. press — a publisher
  23. press — to push
  24. band — a music group

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