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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · saw · march · sharp · clip · kick · wound · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. saw — the tool
  4. sharp — clever
  5. march — music
  6. clip — to cut
  7. kick — in football
  8. clip — a video
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. wound — an injury
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. clip — for paper
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. march — the month
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. march — the month

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