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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 116 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's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. mark — a grade
  3. suit — to fit
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. row — a line
  6. suit — in cards
  7. clip — to cut
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cue — a signal
  10. suit — clothes
  11. cue — a hint
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. march — music
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. march — the month
  17. cap — a lid
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — the month
  22. mark — a trace
  23. cue — for pool
  24. wound — an injury

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