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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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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: pit · march · clip · bay · fork · bore · last · bowl

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. march — music
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. pit — in a race
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. march — the month
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. bore — to tire
  16. clip — a video
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. march — the month
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. pit — a hole
  21. last — final
  22. last — finally
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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