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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · trunk · bat · hide · track · rest · wax · clip

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. clip — a video
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. rest — a break
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. march — the month
  7. track — a path
  8. rest — what's left
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. track — a song
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. rest — what's left
  17. march — the month
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wax — to grow
  20. track — to keep track
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. clip — to cut

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