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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. net — in sport
  4. shower — to wash
  5. row — to paddle
  6. march — the month
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. march — the month
  9. face — to point toward
  10. row — a line
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. shower — rain
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. march — music
  16. net — after costs
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — part of the head
  19. prune — to trim
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. net — for catching
  24. racket — for tennis

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