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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. last — final
  3. pass — a permit
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. pop — music
  8. band — a music group
  9. pop — to visit
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. last — to go on
  12. band — a ring
  13. game — a match
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. last — finally
  16. pop — soda
  17. stem — to come from
  18. game — wild animals

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