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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. march — the month
  3. clip — a video
  4. tube — a container
  5. field — for sport
  6. wind — moving air
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. clip — for paper
  9. mate — to breed
  10. march — the month
  11. march — music
  12. bank — for money
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. mate — a friend
  15. mate — a partner
  16. field — a subject
  17. bank — for money
  18. bat — the animal
  19. tube — the underground
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bank — of a river
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. field — farmland
  24. wind — to turn a key

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