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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.

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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: bore · clip · dip · bat · march · cap · stand · scale

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. cap — of ice
  4. march — the month
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. march — the month
  7. clip — a video
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bore — to tire
  10. clip — to cut
  11. scale — in music
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. cap — a lid
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. clip — for paper
  16. scale — size or range
  17. bore — to drill
  18. dip — to sink
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. march — music
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. bat — the animal

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