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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: saw · row · pit · tear · calf · march · kid · drill

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. march — the month
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. march — the month
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. drill — army training
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. tear — from crying
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. pit — in a race
  14. kid — child
  15. march — music
  16. drill — the tool
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. kid — to tease
  19. row — to paddle
  20. drill — a practice
  21. row — a line
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pit — a hole
  24. saw — the tool

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