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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. track — to keep track
  3. ground — crushed
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. perch — the fish
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. ground — a position
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — a video
  14. march — the month
  15. prune — to trim
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — the earth
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. wax — to grow
  20. bark — to shout
  21. prune — to trim
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. track — a song
  24. track — a path

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