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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 president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. march — music
  3. firm — a company
  4. squash — the sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bound — obliged
  7. clip — to cut
  8. firm — decided
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. band — a ring
  11. clip — a video
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. band — a music group
  15. march — the month
  16. firm — steady
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hand — help
  22. bound — certain
  23. bound — tied together
  24. clip — for paper

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