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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. rash — a series
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — the animal
  5. sharp — clever
  6. rash — hasty
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rock — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. plane — a tool
  16. march — the month
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. toast — bread
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. rock — a stone
  24. clip — a video

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