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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. spell — a short time
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — crushed
  5. net — in sport
  6. press — to push
  7. present — a gift
  8. present — the time now
  9. spell — magic
  10. press — newspapers
  11. present — there
  12. net — for catching
  13. ground — a position
  14. clip — a video
  15. scale — size or range
  16. clip — for paper
  17. march — music
  18. spell — letters
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. march — the month
  21. scale — in music
  22. press — a publisher
  23. net — after costs
  24. clip — to cut

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