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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · snap · date · clip · bowl · squash

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. squash — the sport
  6. march — music
  7. squash — to crush
  8. clip — to cut
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. march — the month
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. clip — a video
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. march — the month
  16. date — the fruit
  17. snap — to click
  18. clip — for paper

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