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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bay · drill · stem · tear · march · date

  1. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — to keep at bay
  2. march — the month
  3. drill — the tool
  4. tear — from crying
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. march — the month
  8. stem — to come from
  9. tear — from crying
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. march — music
  12. drill — a practice
  13. date — the fruit
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. tear — to rip
  16. drill — army training
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. stem — of a plant

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