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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. stand — to bear
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. foot — a measure
  11. clip — a video
  12. wake — a trail
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. chest — of your body
  17. march — the month
  18. date — the fruit
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. chest — a box
  23. foot — part of the body
  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