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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. clip — a video
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. field — for sport
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. perch — the fish
  21. field — a subject
  22. pass — a permit
  23. field — farmland
  24. clip — to cut

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