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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 120 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: game · bay · rash · tear · march · drill · press · snap

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  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 — from crying
  2. game — a match
  3. rash — hasty
  4. game — wild animals
  5. march — music
  6. press — a publisher
  7. snap — to click
  8. drill — the tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. press — newspapers
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. tear — to rip
  18. march — the month
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. rash — a series
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. press — to push
  23. march — the month
  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