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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. bound — tied together
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. march — the month
  5. clip — to cut
  6. staff — employees
  7. bound — obliged
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bound — certain
  13. stem — to come from
  14. march — music
  15. clip — for paper
  16. staff — employees
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — a video
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. staff — a stick
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. coach — a trainer

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