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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. bound — obliged
  3. spell — letters
  4. march — the month
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bound — tied together
  7. march — music
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — for paper
  10. charge — in control
  11. clip — a video
  12. field — for sport
  13. spell — magic
  14. field — farmland
  15. charge — a price
  16. swing — in golf
  17. spell — a short time
  18. field — a subject
  19. swing — music
  20. wound — an injury
  21. swing — to play on
  22. march — the month
  23. bound — certain
  24. charge — electricity

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