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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: band · bowl · mine · calf · last · clip · pit · pass

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pit — a hole
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. clip — a video
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. last — finally
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. last — to go on
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. last — final
  20. pass — a permit
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. mine — for digging

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