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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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · mine · saw · lash · degree · pass · face · net

  1. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. face — to confront
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. saw — the tool
  5. degree — temperature
  6. clip — for paper
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. net — after costs
  10. net — in sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pass — a permit
  13. degree — from a university
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. clip — a video
  17. face — to point toward
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. saw — the tool
  21. mine — for digging
  22. degree — an amount
  23. face — part of the head
  24. pass — to succeed

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