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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 120 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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. drill — army training
  3. wound — an injury
  4. prune — to trim
  5. clip — to cut
  6. charge — electricity
  7. march — the month
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. clip — for paper
  11. branch — a division
  12. clip — a video
  13. mate — to breed
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mate — a friend
  17. drill — the tool
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. march — music
  21. charge — a price
  22. drill — a practice
  23. march — the month
  24. mate — a partner

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