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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 120 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. ground — crushed
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. clip — a video
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. wax — to grow
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. ball — a dance
  14. snap — to click
  15. ground — a position
  16. march — music
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ball — a great time
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pit — a hole
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. pit — in a race
  24. ground — the earth

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