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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — the animal
  5. fine — all right
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bank — for money
  10. race — a contest
  11. race — the arms race
  12. fork — in a road
  13. bank — of a river
  14. march — music
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. race — humankind
  17. bank — for money
  18. cell — a phone
  19. fine — high quality
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — in a prison

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