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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  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. racket — a loud noise
  2. march — music
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. cold — an illness
  6. march — the month
  7. suit — in cards
  8. suit — clothes
  9. clip — a video
  10. cold — not warm
  11. branch — a division
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. suit — to fit
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. clip — for paper
  17. drill — army training
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. drill — a practice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. plane — a tool
  22. clip — to cut
  23. plane — in geometry
  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