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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. rock — a stone
  4. swing — in golf
  5. drill — the tool
  6. march — the month
  7. rock — music
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pass — a permit
  13. drill — army training
  14. clip — for paper
  15. march — the month
  16. swing — music
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. march — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. dip — to sink
  24. mine — an explosive

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