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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. fine — high quality
  7. march — the month
  8. clip — a video
  9. mark — a grade
  10. clip — for paper
  11. fine — all right
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. swing — to play on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. clip — to cut
  16. march — music
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. march — the month
  21. last — to go on
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. mark — a trace

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