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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 120 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: field · hand · pit · fall · march · drill · bay · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. fall — to drop
  3. field — for sport
  4. hand — in cards
  5. pit — a hole
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. march — the month
  9. hand — help
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. fall — the season
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. field — farmland
  16. drill — army training
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. tear — from crying
  19. field — a subject
  20. march — music
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — the month
  23. pit — in a race
  24. bay — a horse colour

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