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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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. branch — of a bank
  4. march — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hand — in cards
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rule — government
  10. march — the month
  11. hand — help
  12. rule — a law
  13. rush — hurry
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. clip — to cut
  22. branch — a division
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. capital — a big letter

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