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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: march · clip · deal · pass · cold · calf · roll · cap

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. march — the month
  3. deal — to handle
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pass — a permit
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. cold — an illness
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. march — music
  12. roll — a cake
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. cap — of ice
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. march — the month
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. roll — a list

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