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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. spring — the season
  3. clip — a video
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. tube — the underground
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. march — the month
  12. spring — of water
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. drill — the tool
  15. tube — a container
  16. clip — for paper
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. spring — a coil
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — a practice

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