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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. deal — to handle
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. branch — a division
  6. clip — a video
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. squash — to crush
  9. cold — an illness
  10. clip — to cut
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. squash — the sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — not warm
  19. march — music
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. capital — money

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