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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: stick · wound · tear · chair · hide · can · ground · march

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. can — a tin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. tear — from crying
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. tear — to rip
  11. can — a tin
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. march — the month
  16. chair — a leader
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. march — music
  21. can — to be able to
  22. march — the month
  23. ground — the earth
  24. wound — an injury

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