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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. pass — a permit
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pop — music
  7. wake — a trail
  8. cap — a lid
  9. bat — the animal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cap — of ice
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. march — music
  15. pop — soda
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. march — the month
  18. cap — a hat
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. march — the month
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. wake — before a funeral

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