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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: march · band · fine · clip · bore · charge · game · chest

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. band — a ring
  4. charge — electricity
  5. charge — in control
  6. bore — to tire
  7. march — the month
  8. game — wild animals
  9. march — music
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. band — a music group
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chest — of your body
  17. fine — high quality
  18. bore — to drill
  19. game — a match
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. charge — a price
  22. clip — a video
  23. fine — all right
  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