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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 · roll · ground · lash · band · clip · date · bore

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. march — the month
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bore — to tire
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. march — the month
  8. band — a music group
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. date — the fruit
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — a cake
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. band — a ring
  15. ground — the earth
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. bore — to drill
  20. ground — a position
  21. clip — a video
  22. march — music
  23. ground — crushed
  24. roll — on a roll

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