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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 124 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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. clip — for paper
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. wound — an injury
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wound — an injury
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. spell — a short time
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. rash — hasty
  16. clip — to cut
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. plane — a tool
  20. rash — a series
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. clip — a video
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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