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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — for paper
  3. clip — a video
  4. march — the month
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. bound — tied together
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. clip — to cut
  9. march — music
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. band — a ring
  12. bound — obliged
  13. deal — to handle
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. bound — certain
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. chair — a leader
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. stand — to bear
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. band — a music group
  24. fork — in a road

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