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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pass — a permit
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — not warm
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. clip — to cut
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. clip — a video
  12. tube — a container
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. present — a gift
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. tube — the underground
  21. present — there
  22. present — the time now
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stand — to bear

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