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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. clip — a video
  4. lean — to bend
  5. cell — in biology
  6. lean — thin
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. rock — music
  9. sharp — clever
  10. pop — to visit
  11. rock — a stone
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — for paper
  14. capital — a city
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. march — music
  17. capital — money
  18. march — the month
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cell — a phone
  21. clip — to cut
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. pop — soda

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