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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. 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. bat — the animal
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. suit — clothes
  6. suit — in cards
  7. root — the cause
  8. clip — for paper
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. row — a line
  11. row — to paddle
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — final
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. pass — a permit
  18. suit — to fit
  19. pitch — completely
  20. clip — a video
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. last — finally
  23. root — of a word
  24. 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