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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: tear · bank · ground · racket · wind · march

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wind — moving air
  4. march — the month
  5. bank — for money
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. march — music
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bank — of a river
  11. tear — from crying
  12. ground — crushed
  13. tear — to rip
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. ground — a position
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bank — for money
  18. racket — for tennis

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