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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 · spring · fork · squash · pass · swing · march · rule

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. rule — a law
  3. march — the month
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. clip — a video
  6. march — the month
  7. squash — the sport
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. spring — a coil
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spring — of water
  12. swing — in golf
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. fork — in a road
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. pass — a permit
  17. clip — for paper
  18. swing — music
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. spring — the season
  21. rule — government
  22. squash — to crush
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. march — 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