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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. land — to come down
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. field — a subject
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. land — ground
  8. board — a committee
  9. march — the month
  10. pit — a hole
  11. clip — a video
  12. board — to get on
  13. field — for sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. field — farmland
  17. land — a country
  18. charge — in control
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. charge — electricity
  21. march — the month
  22. charge — a price
  23. pit — in a race
  24. bat — the animal

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