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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. march — the month
  4. swing — music
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. march — music
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. rock — music
  11. cap — of ice
  12. pit — a hole
  13. swing — to play on
  14. band — a ring
  15. cap — a lid
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cap — a hat
  19. swing — in golf
  20. scale — size or range
  21. clip — a video
  22. pit — in a race
  23. rock — a stone
  24. band — a music group

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