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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.

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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. clip — to cut
  3. march — the month
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. degree — temperature
  6. bass — the fish
  7. degree — from a university
  8. board — a committee
  9. degree — an amount
  10. bass — low music
  11. clip — for paper
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. march — music
  15. board — to get on
  16. bark — to shout
  17. clip — a video
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a partner
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. staff — employees
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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