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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. tear — from crying
  3. march — the month
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. clip — a video
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. pop — music
  9. march — the month
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pop — soda
  15. stock — goods
  16. kid — to tease
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. wax — to grow
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. pop — to visit
  21. clip — for paper
  22. stock — shares
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. kid — child

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