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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bat — the animal
  5. band — a music group
  6. march — the month
  7. tear — to rip
  8. foot — a measure
  9. march — music
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. tear — from crying
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — to breed
  16. march — the month
  17. band — a ring
  18. tear — from crying
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. clip — a video
  24. mate — a partner

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