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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. net — in sport
  3. hand — in cards
  4. mark — a grade
  5. rest — what's left
  6. net — for catching
  7. present — the time now
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. rest — a break
  10. net — after costs
  11. hand — help
  12. march — the month
  13. pop — music
  14. rest — what's left
  15. present — there
  16. march — the month
  17. mark — a trace
  18. pop — to visit
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. present — a gift
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. pop — soda
  24. march — 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