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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. march — the month
  3. clip — for paper
  4. march — music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — there
  9. cue — for pool
  10. present — the time now
  11. march — the month
  12. cue — a signal
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. track — to keep track
  15. band — a ring
  16. clip — a video
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cue — a hint
  20. band — a music group
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. track — a path
  23. track — a song
  24. wind — moving air

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