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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. clip — for paper
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bound — certain
  5. clip — to cut
  6. mark — a grade
  7. wind — moving air
  8. stem — to come from
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. hand — help
  12. ground — crushed
  13. mark — a trace
  14. hand — in cards
  15. bound — obliged
  16. clip — a video
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. ground — the earth
  19. bound — tied together
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. ground — a position
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. pass — to succeed

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