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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 116 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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rash — a series
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. rest — what's left
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bound — certain
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bound — obliged
  11. bound — tied together
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fork — in a road
  16. can — to be able to
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rest — a break
  19. can — a tin
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. can — a tin

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