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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: march · wound · face · shower · pitch · spell · tear · craft

  1. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a skill
  2. tear — from crying
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. face — part of the head
  5. shower — rain
  6. pitch — a sports field
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. tear — to rip
  9. craft — boats
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. spell — letters
  14. march — the month
  15. shower — to wash
  16. face — to confront
  17. spell — a short time
  18. tear — from crying
  19. face — to point toward
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. march — the month
  22. pitch — completely
  23. spell — magic
  24. march — music

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