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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ground — the earth
  5. drill — the tool
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. pop — music
  8. ground — crushed
  9. pop — soda
  10. drill — army training
  11. pop — to visit
  12. field — for sport
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. drill — a practice
  15. march — music
  16. ground — a position
  17. field — a subject
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. march — the month
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. field — farmland
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. mouse — the animal

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