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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 116 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: clip · staff · spring · bass · march · leaves · club · bat

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. march — the month
  3. staff — a stick
  4. march — the month
  5. march — music
  6. club — for dancing
  7. spring — a coil
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. spring — of water
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. club — a group
  15. bass — the fish
  16. club — for golf
  17. bat — the animal
  18. staff — employees
  19. spring — the season
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. staff — employees
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. bass — low music

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