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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. capital — money
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. clip — to cut
  5. drill — army training
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pit — a hole
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. pit — in a race
  10. clip — a video
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. pass — a permit
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wind — moving air
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. capital — a city
  24. wind — to turn a key

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