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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. present — there
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. roll — a list
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — a video
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chair — a leader
  12. roll — a cake
  13. cue — a signal
  14. present — a gift
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. cue — a hint
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. present — the time now
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. clip — to cut
  22. cold — an illness
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. pass — to spend time

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