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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. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. degree — an amount
  6. prune — to trim
  7. degree — from a university
  8. pass — a permit
  9. pop — music
  10. prune — to trim
  11. march — music
  12. wake — a trail
  13. march — the month
  14. pop — soda
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. degree — temperature
  19. clip — a video
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. march — the month

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