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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. land — ground
  4. court — for sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. march — the month
  8. cap — a hat
  9. pit — a hole
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. cap — of ice
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. court — of a king
  15. land — a country
  16. court — of law
  17. land — to come down
  18. bear — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. pit — in a race
  22. cap — a lid
  23. march — music
  24. bear — the animal

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