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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cold — an illness
  4. suit — in cards
  5. clip — for paper
  6. march — the month
  7. clip — a video
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. march — the month
  10. suit — to fit
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bulb — for light
  17. scale — size or range
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cold — not warm
  20. snap — to click
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. suit — clothes
  23. scale — in music
  24. clip — to cut

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