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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 116 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: bat · charge · pass · squash · calf · clip · scale · march

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. squash — the sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. bat — the animal
  8. charge — electricity
  9. clip — a video
  10. march — the month
  11. scale — size or range
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. clip — to cut
  14. march — music
  15. charge — in control
  16. charge — a price
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. scale — in music
  19. march — the month
  20. pass — a permit
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. calf — a young animal

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