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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — an illness
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. march — the month
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. saw — the tool
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. march — the month
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. clip — for paper
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — in sport
  18. cold — not warm
  19. march — music
  20. bank — for money
  21. club — a group
  22. bank — for money
  23. bank — of a river
  24. club — for golf

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