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

Word bank: drill · kick · net · march · tear · stem

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. stem — to come from
  3. tear — from crying
  4. net — after costs
  5. march — the month
  6. kick — in football
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. march — the month
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. march — music
  13. net — in sport
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. drill — a practice
  16. net — for catching
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training

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