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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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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: dip · rush · drill · rash · tube · march · tear · object

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rush — hurry
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. march — the month
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. march — the month
  11. tube — the underground
  12. rash — a series
  13. dip — to sink
  14. drill — a practice
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — an aim
  17. march — music
  18. object — a thing
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. tube — a container
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. tear — to rip

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