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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. shower — rain
  3. march — music
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. march — the month
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. clip — to cut
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. pass — a permit
  20. mine — for digging
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. bark — to shout
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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