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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 120 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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. band — a music group
  3. mine — for digging
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. last — final
  6. ground — a position
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. tear — from crying
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. degree — temperature
  12. band — a ring
  13. last — to go on
  14. degree — an amount
  15. prune — to trim
  16. degree — from a university
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — the earth
  21. last — finally
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mine — belonging to me

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