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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wound · bass · clip · foot · nail · content · march · straw

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. content — happy
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. clip — to cut
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. bass — the fish
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. wound — an injury
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. clip — a video
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bass — low music
  19. clip — for paper
  20. content — the amount
  21. wound — an injury
  22. foot — a measure
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. nail — for a hammer

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