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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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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: mine · mug · ground · march · fall · board · tear · scale

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. scale — in music
  4. ground — the earth
  5. fall — to drop
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. tear — from crying
  8. mug — a face
  9. march — music
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. board — a committee
  12. ground — crushed
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tear — from crying
  15. mug — to rob
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. tear — to rip
  18. fall — the season
  19. march — the month
  20. ground — a position
  21. mug — a cup
  22. board — to get on
  23. scale — size or range
  24. march — the month

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