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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — the animal
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — a match
  6. last — final
  7. clip — a video
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. craft — boats
  11. last — to go on
  12. cap — a hat
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. pass — a permit
  15. clip — for paper
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cap — a lid
  20. cap — of ice
  21. clip — to cut
  22. game — wild animals
  23. craft — a skill
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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