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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. drill — the tool
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. ground — a position
  7. march — music
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. march — the month
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. march — the month
  14. stem — to come from
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. game — a match
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. ground — the earth
  20. drill — army training
  21. game — wild animals
  22. drill — a practice
  23. kick — in football
  24. tear — to rip

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