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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. march — music
  3. band — a ring
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. prune — to trim
  6. prune — to trim
  7. mark — a grade
  8. mark — a trace
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. land — ground
  14. clip — to cut
  15. land — a country
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. land — to come down
  19. march — the month
  20. band — a music group
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. wax — to grow
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. wax — for sculpting

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