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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: march · fall · tear · jam · rule · mine · drill · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. march — music
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. march — the month
  5. tear — from crying
  6. rule — government
  7. fall — the season
  8. tear — from crying
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. tear — to rip
  11. jam — in traffic
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. rule — a law
  14. march — the month
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. wound — an injury
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. fall — to drop
  20. drill — a practice
  21. mine — for digging
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. fall — to drop
  24. mine — an explosive

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