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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. march — the month
  4. craft — boats
  5. drill — a practice
  6. rush — hurry
  7. march — the month
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. drill — the tool
  10. craft — a skill
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. march — music
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. clip — for paper
  16. pound — a weight
  17. clip — a video
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. date — the fruit
  22. clip — to cut
  23. drill — army training
  24. rush — to hurry

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