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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. scale — size or range
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. game — wild animals
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. clip — to cut
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. rest — what's left
  15. march — the month
  16. rest — what's left
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. march — music
  19. race — humankind
  20. scale — in music
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. rest — a break
  23. game — a match
  24. pitcher — a jug

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