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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — from crying
  3. last — finally
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. tear — from crying
  7. root — of a word
  8. root — of a plant
  9. rush — hurry
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. last — to go on
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — a container
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. field — farmland
  17. march — music
  18. root — the cause
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. clip — a video
  21. last — final
  22. clip — for paper
  23. march — the month
  24. clip — to cut

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