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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: mate · march · kick · mouse · band · wind · fan · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. band — a ring
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. mate — a partner
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mate — to breed
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. march — the month
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. wind — moving air
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — for paper
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. clip — to cut
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. kick — in football
  20. march — music
  21. wind — moving air
  22. band — a music group
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. mate — a friend

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