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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 120 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. land — to come down
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. clip — to cut
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. land — ground
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. march — the month
  9. bat — the animal
  10. club — for golf
  11. clip — a video
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. club — for dancing
  14. pass — a permit
  15. march — music
  16. land — a country
  17. plane — a tool
  18. clip — for paper
  19. present — there
  20. present — a gift
  21. march — the month
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. present — the time now
  24. club — a group

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