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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. land — ground
  3. board — to get on
  4. clip — for paper
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. court — for sport
  7. bass — low music
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. board — a committee
  10. perch — the fish
  11. land — to come down
  12. clip — to cut
  13. clip — a video
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. court — of a king
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. court — of law
  20. bass — the fish
  21. land — a country
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. scale — size or range
  24. scale — in 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