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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. pop — music
  4. march — the month
  5. rash — a series
  6. spring — the season
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pit — in a race
  9. clip — a video
  10. spring — of water
  11. pop — soda
  12. march — the month
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. band — a ring
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. band — a music group
  17. spring — a coil
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pit — a hole
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. rash — hasty
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. march — music
  24. pound — a weight

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