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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 120 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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cue — a signal
  3. fine — all right
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. last — to go on
  8. march — music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. march — the month
  12. bound — obliged
  13. last — final
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. cue — for pool
  16. bound — tied together
  17. cue — a hint
  18. clip — a video
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fine — high quality
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. march — the month
  23. bound — certain
  24. prune — to trim

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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