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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. march — the month
  5. clip — to cut
  6. craft — a skill
  7. clip — a video
  8. craft — boats
  9. march — the month
  10. clip — for paper
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. tube — the underground
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. field — for sport
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. tube — a container
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. last — to go on
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. racket — for tennis

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