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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 116 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. present — the time now
  3. cap — a lid
  4. clip — to cut
  5. cap — a hat
  6. march — the month
  7. perch — the fish
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. clip — for paper
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. game — a match
  13. stem — to come from
  14. game — wild animals
  15. march — the month
  16. clip — a video
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. present — there
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. band — a music group
  21. present — a gift
  22. cap — of ice
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. band — a ring

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