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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bat — the animal
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bound — tied together
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bound — certain
  10. lean — thin
  11. pass — a permit
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bound — obliged
  14. clip — to cut
  15. lean — to bend
  16. clip — a video
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pass — to spend time

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