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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. staff — a stick
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. fine — all right
  5. court — of law
  6. march — the month
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in biology
  9. clip — for paper
  10. staff — employees
  11. lie — to recline
  12. court — of a king
  13. last — finally
  14. court — for sport
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. last — final
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fine — high quality
  19. march — music
  20. clip — a video
  21. staff — employees
  22. last — to go on
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. lie — an untruth

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