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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. march — music
  3. bass — low music
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. march — the month
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. clip — to cut
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. squash — to crush
  10. pound — a weight
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. squash — the sport
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. clip — a video
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bass — the fish
  20. clip — for paper
  21. tear — to rip
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. march — the month

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