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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. 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. march — the month
  2. ball — a dance
  3. squash — to crush
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. squash — the sport
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. ball — a great time
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. march — the month
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. 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