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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. march — music
  3. last — to go on
  4. ground — a position
  5. clip — a video
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. spell — letters
  8. clip — for paper
  9. march — the month
  10. ground — the earth
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — magic
  14. present — the time now
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. present — a gift
  17. clip — to cut
  18. perch — the fish
  19. ground — crushed
  20. march — the month
  21. last — final
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. present — there
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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