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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. last — finally
  3. track — a song
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. scale — in music
  8. kid — child
  9. cell — in biology
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. march — music
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. track — to keep track
  16. kid — to tease
  17. track — a path
  18. pass — a permit
  19. cell — a phone
  20. last — to go on
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. last — final

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