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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 116 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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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: march · tear · hand · prune · sharp · lie · drill · net

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. hand — help
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. march — the month
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. hand — in cards
  10. march — the month
  11. prune — to trim
  12. lie — to recline
  13. net — in sport
  14. march — music
  15. drill — a practice
  16. tear — to rip
  17. sharp — clever
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — from crying
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. prune — to trim
  24. drill — the tool

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