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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. march — music
  4. wake — a trail
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. current — of water
  7. current — electric
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. squash — to crush
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. march — the month
  12. squash — the sport
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. pass — a permit
  15. fork — in a road
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. clip — to cut
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. march — the month
  24. current — happening now

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