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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: cold · ground · hide · season · straw · pass · drill · clip

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — to cut
  7. pass — a permit
  8. ground — a position
  9. cold — not warm
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. drill — a practice
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. season — in sport
  14. clip — for paper
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cold — an illness
  18. season — of the year
  19. clip — a video
  20. drill — army training
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. drill — the tool

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