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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. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. toast — bread
  3. capital — money
  4. spring — a coil
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. spring — of water
  7. spring — the season
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. pass — a permit
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — for paper
  18. capital — a city
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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