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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: cell · tear · band · drill · march · calf · face · present

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. present — the time now
  3. face — to point toward
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. face — to confront
  6. band — a music group
  7. tear — from crying
  8. cell — a phone
  9. band — a ring
  10. drill — a practice
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — the month
  13. cell — in biology
  14. present — a gift
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. present — there
  17. tear — to rip
  18. march — the month
  19. drill — the tool
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. drill — army training
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. march — music

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