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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a hole
  4. march — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. field — a subject
  7. last — to go on
  8. clip — a video
  9. field — for sport
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. field — farmland
  13. object — to protest
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. march — the month
  16. bark — to shout
  17. object — an aim
  18. march — the month
  19. object — a thing
  20. last — finally
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. mine — for digging
  23. clip — to cut
  24. last — final

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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