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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. drill — army training
  3. clip — a video
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. chair — a leader
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — to cut
  9. march — music
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass

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