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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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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: ground · spell · cold · spring · present · pass · clip · branch

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pass — a permit
  4. cold — not warm
  5. clip — a video
  6. present — a gift
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — for paper
  10. present — the time now
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. branch — a division
  13. spell — letters
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. spring — a coil
  17. ground — crushed
  18. spell — magic
  19. ground — a position
  20. spell — a short time
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spring — of water
  23. spring — the season
  24. present — there

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