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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: band · clip · cap · march · field · wave · bark · key

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. key — in music
  3. clip — a video
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. band — a ring
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — a subject
  8. march — the month
  9. cap — a lid
  10. bark — to shout
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. cap — of ice
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — to cut
  15. key — the most important part
  16. field — for sport
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. key — for a lock
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. band — a music group
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. clip — for paper
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. cap — a hat

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