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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: march · cap · hide · tear · toast · last

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. last — final
  4. march — the month
  5. cap — of ice
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. cap — a hat
  9. last — to go on
  10. tear — from crying
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. toast — bread
  13. tear — to rip
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. cap — a lid
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. march — the month
  18. last — finally

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