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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. clip — for paper
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. bark — to shout
  8. mine — for digging
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. chair — a leader
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bore — to tire
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. kick — in football
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. pass — a permit

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