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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: bear · track · band · march · dip · clip · court · rash

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. clip — a video
  4. track — a path
  5. court — of a king
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. court — for sport
  10. court — of law
  11. march — music
  12. march — the month
  13. band — a music group
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — to sink
  16. rash — hasty
  17. bear — the animal
  18. march — the month
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. track — a song
  21. band — a ring
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. track — to keep track
  24. rash — a series

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