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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. march — music
  3. march — the month
  4. wind — moving air
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. track — to keep track
  7. chest — a box
  8. face — to point toward
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. clip — for paper
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. chest — of your body
  14. clip — a video
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. clip — to cut
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. march — the month
  19. track — a path
  20. chest — of your body
  21. wind — moving air
  22. face — to confront
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. face — part of the head

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