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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. mate — to breed
  5. game — a match
  6. kid — child
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. clip — a video
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bat — the animal
  17. mate — a friend
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. clip — to cut
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pass — a permit

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