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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: clip · march · stick · wax · rule · band · hide · game

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. rule — to rule out
  3. band — a music group
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. clip — a video
  6. wax — to grow
  7. game — a match
  8. march — the month
  9. rule — government
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. march — the month
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. clip — for paper
  15. game — wild animals
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. rule — a law
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. band — a ring
  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