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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. march — the month
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. court — of a king
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. shower — rain
  9. perch — the fish
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. clip — for paper
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. march — music
  18. clip — a video
  19. bass — the fish
  20. march — the month
  21. court — for sport
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — low music

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