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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. court — of law
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. march — the month
  5. clip — to cut
  6. court — for sport
  7. bound — obliged
  8. last — finally
  9. game — a match
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. bound — certain
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. squash — to crush
  14. court — of a king
  15. squash — the sport
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. deal — to handle
  18. last — to go on
  19. clip — for paper
  20. last — final
  21. bound — tied together
  22. clip — a video
  23. march — the month
  24. game — wild animals

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