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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  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. staff — employees
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. track — to keep track
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. lean — to bend
  10. track — a song
  11. staff — employees
  12. spell — magic
  13. lean — thin
  14. staff — a stick
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pass — a permit
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. clip — to cut
  21. track — a path
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. mine — for digging
  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