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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. current — happening now
  8. can — a tin
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. can — a tin
  11. clip — to cut
  12. race — a contest
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. current — electric
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. spring — a coil
  17. fork — in a road
  18. can — to be able to
  19. current — of water
  20. race — the arms race
  21. march — the month
  22. march — the month
  23. clip — a video
  24. race — humankind

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