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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. present — the time now
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pass — a permit
  9. clip — a video
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. bear — the animal
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. bear — the animal
  17. present — there
  18. saw — the tool
  19. date — the fruit
  20. present — a gift
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. clip — to cut
  23. saw — the tool
  24. kid — to tease

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