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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. clip — a video
  3. craft — a skill
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. foot — a measure
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. craft — boats
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. march — music
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bear — the animal
  20. clip — for paper
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bear — the animal
  24. chest — of your body

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