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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bass — the fish
  3. march — music
  4. land — ground
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. stock — shares
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. land — to come down
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. game — wild animals
  14. land — a country
  15. stock — goods
  16. bass — low music
  17. lie — to recline
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mouse — for a computer
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. clip — a video
  24. game — a match

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