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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rush — hurry
  3. last — to go on
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. pop — music
  6. clip — a video
  7. last — final
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a list
  11. scale — size or range
  12. roll — a cake
  13. march — the month
  14. scale — in music
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. pop — to visit
  18. clip — for paper
  19. pop — soda
  20. march — music
  21. last — finally
  22. march — the month
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — hasty

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