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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. drill — army training
  3. mate — to breed
  4. march — the month
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. rash — hasty
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — for paper
  9. drill — the tool
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. cold — an illness
  13. march — music
  14. mate — a partner
  15. drill — a practice
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. rock — music
  18. mate — a friend
  19. march — the month
  20. rash — a series
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. rock — a stone
  24. cold — not warm

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