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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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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: foot · bound · track · clip · march · pound · wake · drill

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. track — a song
  3. clip — for paper
  4. march — the month
  5. drill — army training
  6. drill — a practice
  7. march — music
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bound — obliged
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wake — a trail
  12. foot — a measure
  13. track — to keep track
  14. bound — certain
  15. track — a path
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. bound — tied together
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. march — the month
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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