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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: rest · craft · clip · wind · pass · last

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rest — what's left
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. craft — boats
  6. last — final
  7. last — finally
  8. wind — moving air
  9. rest — what's left
  10. clip — a video
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. pass — a permit
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rest — a break
  15. craft — a skill
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. 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