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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 116 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: tear · mug · last · fan · cell · pop · drill · march

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. mug — to rob
  3. last — to go on
  4. drill — the tool
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — music
  7. march — the month
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. march — music
  11. cell — a phone
  12. tear — to rip
  13. cell — in biology
  14. drill — army training
  15. mug — a face
  16. tear — from crying
  17. march — the month
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. last — final
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mug — a cup
  22. last — finally
  23. drill — a practice
  24. cell — in a prison

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