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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 120 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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. march — music
  4. rest — what's left
  5. pop — soda
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. clip — a video
  11. wax — to grow
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. march — the month
  16. pop — music
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bat — the animal
  19. march — the month
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. branch — a division
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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