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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: stock · pass · march · clip · fine · ground · bat · game

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. march — the month
  3. fine — all right
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. stock — shares
  6. march — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ground — crushed
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. fine — high quality
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. game — a match
  15. ground — a position
  16. game — wild animals
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. march — the month
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. clip — to cut

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