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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. clip — to cut
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. clip — a video
  5. rock — music
  6. roll — a list
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. rock — a stone
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. roll — a cake
  11. clip — for paper
  12. march — music
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. cell — in biology
  15. fine — high quality
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cell — a phone
  18. game — wild animals
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. game — a match
  24. game — a kind of play

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