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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.

Make a worksheet

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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. staff — employees
  4. clip — to cut
  5. drill — the tool
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. drill — army training
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wake — a trail
  11. staff — a stick
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bear — the animal
  14. staff — employees
  15. march — music
  16. bear — the animal
  17. march — the month
  18. drill — a practice

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