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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. current — of water
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — a video
  6. march — the month
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. chest — of your body
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. current — electric
  12. scale — in music
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. degree — an amount
  15. chest — a box
  16. stock — shares
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. degree — temperature
  19. scale — size or range
  20. stock — goods
  21. march — music
  22. degree — from a university
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. current — happening now

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