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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 120 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: cell · current · field · pass · pound · clip · wind · mate

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mate — a friend
  3. clip — a video
  4. cell — in biology
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. field — a subject
  8. mate — to breed
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. current — happening now
  12. field — farmland
  13. cell — a phone
  14. current — electric
  15. field — for sport
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. wind — moving air
  19. current — of water
  20. pound — a weight
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pass — a permit
  23. clip — to cut
  24. mate — a partner

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