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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. saw — the tool
  3. march — the month
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — a video
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. bound — tied together
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. saw — the tool
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. march — music
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bound — certain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bound — obliged
  20. squash — the sport
  21. shower — rain
  22. squash — to crush
  23. clip — to cut
  24. shower — to wash

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