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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. march — music
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pass — a permit
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. game — a match
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. squash — the sport
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. march — the month
  22. snap — to click
  23. stem — to come from
  24. march — the month

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