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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: swing · march · bore · clip · craft · pop · board · last

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. clip — a video
  3. swing — music
  4. last — final
  5. board — a committee
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. march — the month
  8. pop — soda
  9. craft — boats
  10. pop — to visit
  11. last — finally
  12. clip — for paper
  13. last — to go on
  14. bore — to tire
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pop — music
  18. bore — to drill
  19. swing — in golf
  20. board — to get on
  21. craft — a skill
  22. march — the month
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. march — music

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