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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — the month
  3. present — there
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. march — the month
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stock — shares
  8. clip — a video
  9. present — a gift
  10. plane — a tool
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. march — music
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. clip — for paper
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. craft — a skill
  20. present — the time now
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. stock — goods
  23. craft — boats
  24. stock — a soup base

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