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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 ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. stand — to bear
  3. clip — for paper
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. hand — in cards
  6. march — the month
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. march — music
  9. mate — to breed
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mate — a partner
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. spell — letters
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hand — help
  19. chair — a leader
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — the month
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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