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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: march · bore · squash · ground · craft · deal · clip · last

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. ground — a position
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. deal — to handle
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. last — to go on
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bore — to tire
  15. last — finally
  16. bore — to drill
  17. clip — for paper
  18. craft — a skill
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. squash — the sport
  21. last — final
  22. march — music
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — the earth

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