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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mark — a grade
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. hand — help
  5. march — music
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. hand — in cards
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — a subject
  12. mark — a trace
  13. board — a committee
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — to cut
  16. field — farmland
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. cap — a lid
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. board — to get on
  21. march — the month
  22. field — for sport
  23. march — the month
  24. rush — hurry

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