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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. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. pass — a permit
  4. cold — an illness
  5. can — a tin
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. cold — not warm
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. can — a tin
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. can — to be able to
  15. kid — to tease
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child

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