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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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Word bank
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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 · roll · press · tear · plane · kid

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Did you ________________ the button?
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. roll — a list
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. tear — from crying
  5. roll — a cake
  6. press — a publisher
  7. march — the month
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. press — to push
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. kid — child
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. press — newspapers
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying

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