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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. march — the month
  3. march — music
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. march — the month
  7. date — the fruit
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — a subject
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. squash — the sport
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. squash — to crush
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — for paper
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. bark — to shout
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. field — farmland

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