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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. game — a match
  3. clip — for paper
  4. march — music
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. rock — a stone
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — to cut
  15. row — to paddle
  16. game — wild animals
  17. march — the month
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. clip — a video
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. branch — a division
  23. rock — music
  24. rock — to move gently

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