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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 120 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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. clip — to cut
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. court — of a king
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. court — of law
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. cap — a hat
  11. bore — to drill
  12. face — to confront
  13. court — for sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bore — to tire
  16. march — the month
  17. cap — a lid
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. face — part of the head
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — a video
  22. cap — of ice
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. face — to point toward

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