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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. drill — army training
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. pop — soda
  7. rest — what's left
  8. clip — a video
  9. pop — music
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. march — the month
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. march — the month
  15. mine — for digging
  16. toast — bread
  17. rest — what's left
  18. march — music
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. pop — to visit
  21. drill — a practice
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. drill — the tool
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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