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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. capital — a city
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mate — to breed
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. march — the month
  13. bark — to shout
  14. court — of a king
  15. stock — goods
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mate — a friend
  20. stock — shares
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. march — the month
  24. capital — money

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