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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. clip — to cut
  5. capital — a city
  6. deal — to handle
  7. bass — low music
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. hand — in cards
  10. capital — money
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — for paper
  13. march — music
  14. hand — help
  15. rock — music
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. clip — a video
  18. bass — the fish
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. perch — the fish
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. march — the month
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. rock — a stone

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