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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: pit · ground · tear · wake · march · net

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — the earth
  3. march — the month
  4. tear — to rip
  5. march — the month
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. ground — crushed
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. net — in sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pit — in a race
  14. net — after costs
  15. pit — a hole
  16. march — music
  17. wake — a trail
  18. net — for catching

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