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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: leaves · nail · march · wound · pitcher · staff · arm · clip

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — the month
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. staff — employees
  11. staff — a stick
  12. clip — for paper
  13. staff — employees
  14. march — the month
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. march — music
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. clip — to cut
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. clip — a video

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