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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 116 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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pitch — completely
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rock — a stone
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. mate — a partner
  7. rock — music
  8. march — music
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — what's left
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — a coil
  14. spring — of water
  15. clip — a video
  16. game — wild animals
  17. game — a match
  18. rest — a break
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. spring — the season
  21. mate — to breed
  22. march — the month
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. mate — a friend

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