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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: club · march · chair · present · wound · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — music
  5. club — a group
  6. present — the time now
  7. wound — an injury
  8. present — there
  9. club — for dancing
  10. present — a gift
  11. march — the month
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. march — the month
  15. club — for golf
  16. chair — a leader
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chair — to sit on

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