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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. march — music
  4. chip — for betting
  5. drill — army training
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. rash — a series
  9. chip — to eat
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. march — the month
  13. rash — hasty
  14. drill — the tool
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. pound — a weight
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. march — the month
  23. drill — a practice
  24. branch — a division

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