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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. clip — a video
  3. wax — to grow
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. clip — for paper
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — to cut
  10. current — happening now
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. march — the month
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. march — the month
  18. current — of water
  19. pound — a weight
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. current — electric
  24. bark — to shout

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