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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 · bat · drill · cell · wave · sharp · lie · root

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. sharp — clever
  3. bat — the animal
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. lie — to recline
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. drill — army training
  13. cell — in biology
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. drill — the tool
  17. march — the month
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. cell — a phone
  20. march — music
  21. drill — a practice
  22. root — the cause
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. lie — an untruth

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