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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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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: wound · trunk · calf · clip · mark · march · content · race

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. content — the amount
  6. clip — a video
  7. wound — an injury
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — a trace
  12. content — happy
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. race — the arms race
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. wound — an injury
  19. race — a contest
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. clip — for paper
  23. march — the month
  24. march — the month

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