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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: stem · bat · march · mine · tear · scale · last · bear

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. tear — from crying
  3. mine — for digging
  4. scale — size or range
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — the animal
  7. last — to go on
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. march — music
  13. tear — to rip
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. march — the month
  17. last — final
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. stem — to come from
  21. scale — in music
  22. bear — the animal
  23. tear — from crying
  24. last — finally

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