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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: bank · club · chest · march · wound · clip · jam · mark

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chest — a box
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mark — a grade
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. clip — a video
  8. bank — of a river
  9. march — the month
  10. club — for dancing
  11. chest — of your body
  12. club — a group
  13. mark — a trace
  14. bank — for money
  15. chest — of your body
  16. club — for golf
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. march — music
  19. wound — an injury
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. wound — an injury
  22. bank — for money
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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