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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. tube — the underground
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. club — a group
  6. bore — to drill
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. clip — a video
  9. last — finally
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. club — for golf
  12. bore — to tire
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. shower — rain
  15. tube — a container
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pass — a permit
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. club — for dancing
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. shower — to wash

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