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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: pop · drill · march · fall · tear · ground · band · race

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. race — the arms race
  3. race — a contest
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — soda
  8. ground — a position
  9. fall — to drop
  10. ground — the earth
  11. tear — from crying
  12. march — music
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. drill — a practice
  15. fall — the season
  16. band — a ring
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pop — music
  19. race — humankind
  20. drill — the tool
  21. fall — to drop
  22. march — the month
  23. band — a music group
  24. drill — army training

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