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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. mark — a trace
  3. track — a path
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. march — music
  6. game — a match
  7. season — of the year
  8. track — a song
  9. march — the month
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. march — the month
  15. track — to keep track
  16. game — wild animals
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. mark — a grade
  21. cell — a phone
  22. pitch — completely
  23. clip — a video
  24. season — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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