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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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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. scale — in music
  3. march — music
  4. march — the month
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. shower — to wash
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. shower — rain
  9. ball — a dance
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bound — obliged
  13. march — the month
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. tube — a container
  17. bound — tied together
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. scale — size or range
  20. ball — a great time
  21. tube — the underground
  22. clip — a video
  23. bound — certain
  24. clip — to cut

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