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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. bear — the animal
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. bear — the animal
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. march — the month
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. clip — to cut
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fine — high quality
  12. march — the month
  13. band — a ring
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fine — all right
  18. clip — a video
  19. dip — to sink
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. date — the fruit
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. band — a music group

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