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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: march · hand · clip · wax · rock · present · snap · rush

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. clip — a video
  3. present — the time now
  4. rock — a stone
  5. hand — in cards
  6. present — there
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rush — hurry
  11. snap — to click
  12. hand — help
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. wax — to grow
  17. present — a gift
  18. march — the month
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. march — music
  22. clip — to cut
  23. rock — music
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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