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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: race · club · jam · clip · trunk · pop · march · face

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. clip — to cut
  3. march — music
  4. race — a contest
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. race — humankind
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. club — for dancing
  10. pop — to visit
  11. face — to confront
  12. race — the arms race
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. face — to point toward
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. club — a group
  17. clip — a video
  18. march — the month
  19. pop — music
  20. clip — for paper
  21. face — part of the head
  22. march — the month
  23. pop — soda
  24. club — for golf

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