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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: tear · clip · fall · craft · march · present

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. march — music
  3. tear — from crying
  4. present — a gift
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — to drop
  7. present — the time now
  8. tear — to rip
  9. present — there
  10. tear — from crying
  11. march — the month
  12. craft — boats
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — the season
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. clip — a video
  18. craft — a skill

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