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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. cue — for pool
  3. cue — a signal
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. capital — money
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rest — a break
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. drill — army training
  10. march — the month
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — a video
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — to cut
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. drill — the tool
  22. march — the month
  23. cue — a hint
  24. drill — a practice

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