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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. march — music
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. cell — a phone
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. rule — government
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — for sport
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. field — a subject
  11. pit — a hole
  12. court — of law
  13. pit — in a race
  14. march — the month
  15. court — of a king
  16. field — farmland
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — a video
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. court — for sport
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cell — in a prison

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