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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 120 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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. bound — tied together
  6. rash — a series
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cell — in biology
  9. cell — a phone
  10. craft — a skill
  11. kick — in football
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — rain
  14. bound — certain
  15. clip — a video
  16. bound — obliged
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. craft — boats
  19. clip — to cut
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. rash — hasty
  22. march — the month
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. craft — a handicraft

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