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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. drill — army training
  6. court — for sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. court — of a king
  9. court — of law
  10. drill — the tool
  11. drill — a practice
  12. march — the month
  13. branch — a division
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cell — in biology
  16. march — the month
  17. fine — all right
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. march — music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. fine — high quality

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