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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. last — to go on
  4. can — a tin
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. squash — to crush
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. can — to be able to
  11. pitch — completely
  12. march — the month
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. march — music
  15. last — final
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. squash — the sport
  18. can — a tin
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. pit — a hole
  21. march — the month
  22. pit — in a race
  23. clip — a video
  24. last — finally

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