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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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. rash — hasty
  2. clip — for paper
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. march — music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chair — a leader
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. rash — a series
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. key — the most important part
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. snap — to click
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. stand — to bear
  20. key — in music
  21. key — for a lock
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. saw — the tool
  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