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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. 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. pass — to succeed
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rest — what's left
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rest — a break
  7. last — finally
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. last — final
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. 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