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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. object — to protest
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chest — of your body
  4. scale — size or range
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — the month
  9. march — the month
  10. mate — to breed
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. scale — in music
  13. mate — a partner
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mate — a friend
  16. plane — a tool
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. chest — a box
  19. object — a thing
  20. march — music
  21. object — an aim
  22. chest — of your body
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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