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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. march — music
  3. date — the fruit
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. swing — music
  6. net — for catching
  7. root — of a word
  8. swing — in golf
  9. net — in sport
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. march — the month
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a plant
  17. clip — a video
  18. swing — to play on
  19. perch — the fish
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. clip — for paper
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — to cut
  24. net — after costs

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