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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. clip — for paper
  3. drill — army training
  4. rock — music
  5. rock — a stone
  6. spring — a coil
  7. suit — to fit
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. suit — clothes
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. suit — in cards
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — a practice
  21. squash — the sport
  22. drill — the tool
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. march — music

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