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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: sharp · cap · land · roll · bat · clip · pass · race

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  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. cap — a hat
  2. land — a country
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. clip — a video
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — humankind
  7. roll — a list
  8. land — ground
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bat — the animal
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. race — a contest
  15. clip — to cut
  16. land — to come down
  17. race — the arms race
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. roll — a cake
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. sharp — clever
  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