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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 116 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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. wake — a trail
  3. march — the month
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. march — music
  9. mark — a grade
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. board — to get on
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — in sport
  16. clip — to cut
  17. mark — a trace
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. wound — an injury
  21. net — after costs
  22. board — a committee
  23. clip — a video
  24. march — the month

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