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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: present · prune · march · tear · drill · fall

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. tear — to rip
  3. fall — the season
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — the month
  7. present — a gift
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — to drop
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. prune — to trim
  12. tear — from crying
  13. march — music
  14. present — there
  15. prune — to trim
  16. drill — the tool
  17. drill — army training
  18. present — the time now

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