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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. deal — to handle
  3. march — the month
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. land — a country
  6. roll — a cake
  7. land — ground
  8. race — humankind
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. land — to come down
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. race — a contest
  13. clip — a video
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a list
  16. pop — soda
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. race — the arms race
  20. clip — to cut
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. pop — to visit
  24. pop — music

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