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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 116 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. clip — a video
  8. present — there
  9. clip — to cut
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. clip — for paper
  12. cap — a lid
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. present — a gift
  17. kid — child
  18. kid — to tease
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. present — the time now
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. pass — a permit
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. spring — a coil

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