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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 · lean · mark · clip · pitcher · prune · game · wound

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. wound — an injury
  3. march — the month
  4. clip — a video
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. prune — to trim
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. prune — to trim
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. clip — to cut
  14. lean — thin
  15. wound — an injury
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. mark — a grade
  18. march — the month
  19. game — wild animals
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — for paper
  23. lean — to bend
  24. mark — a trace

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