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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. clip — a video
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. march — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a tool
  8. ground — a position
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. file — a line of people
  11. clip — to cut
  12. mark — a trace
  13. bank — of a river
  14. march — the month
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bank — for money
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. mark — a grade
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. march — the month
  23. ground — the earth
  24. ground — crushed

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