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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. net — in sport
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. net — for catching
  5. mug — to rob
  6. shower — rain
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. key — the most important part
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — wild animals
  13. mug — a cup
  14. game — a match
  15. mug — a face
  16. shower — to wash
  17. key — in music
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. net — after costs
  21. pass — a permit
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. key — for a lock
  24. clip — a video

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