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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. march — the month
  4. march — the month
  5. roll — a cake
  6. clip — for paper
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. march — music
  13. roll — a list
  14. clip — to cut
  15. scale — size or range
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. clip — a video
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. scale — in music
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. lie — to recline
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. pass — a permit

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