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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: clip · chest · cap · content · stick · wind · mark · pass

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. cap — a hat
  4. cap — a lid
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. clip — a video
  8. chest — a box
  9. wind — moving air
  10. content — the amount
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chest — of your body
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. cap — of ice
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. mark — a grade
  18. chest — of your body
  19. clip — to cut
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. mark — a trace
  22. content — happy
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. pass — a permit

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