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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bound — obliged
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. clip — a video
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. sharp — clever
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. clip — for paper
  12. date — the fruit
  13. clip — to cut
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. shower — rain
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. march — the month
  22. bound — tied together
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. bound — certain

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