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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. lean — thin
  3. clip — to cut
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. face — part of the head
  7. face — to confront
  8. saw — the tool
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cap — a hat
  11. pass — a permit
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. cap — of ice
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — for paper
  17. perch — the fish
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. face — to point toward
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cold — an illness
  24. lean — to bend

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