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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. saw — the tool
  3. track — a song
  4. clip — a video
  5. march — music
  6. mate — a partner
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. mate — a friend
  10. roll — a cake
  11. saw — the tool
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. ground — the earth
  14. march — the month
  15. ground — a position
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — for paper
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. mate — to breed
  22. ground — crushed
  23. roll — a list
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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