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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fine — high quality
  7. row — to paddle
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. perch — the fish
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. fine — all right
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. row — a line
  17. wake — a trail
  18. clip — for paper
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. roll — a list
  21. roll — a cake
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. march — the month
  24. wake — before a funeral

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