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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. ball — a dance
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cap — a hat
  9. track — a song
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cap — of ice
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. ball — a great time
  15. game — a match
  16. fall — to drop
  17. track — to keep track
  18. cap — a lid
  19. fall — the season
  20. last — final
  21. fall — to drop
  22. track — a path
  23. pass — a permit
  24. last — to go on

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