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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: tear · row · fall · rest · march · cabinet · hand · file

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. march — the month
  3. fall — the season
  4. fall — to drop
  5. march — the month
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. file — a document
  8. tear — to rip
  9. rest — what's left
  10. row — to paddle
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — music
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — in cards
  15. row — a line
  16. file — a tool
  17. hand — help
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. file — a line of people
  21. rest — a break
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. row — a quarrel

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