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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — a box
  5. march — the month
  6. clip — a video
  7. band — a music group
  8. clip — for paper
  9. march — music
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. scale — in music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. march — the month
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. band — a ring
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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