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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. clip — for paper
  3. drill — the tool
  4. land — ground
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rock — music
  8. march — the month
  9. land — to come down
  10. march — the month
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. deal — to handle
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. land — a country
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. march — music
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. pit — a hole
  20. rock — a stone
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — army training
  23. clip — a video
  24. pit — in a race

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