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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. ball — a great time
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. clip — for paper
  5. mine — for digging
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. clip — a video
  9. ball — a dance
  10. clip — to cut
  11. plane — a tool
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. lie — to recline
  16. pass — a permit
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. plane — in geometry

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