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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. face — to confront
  3. object — to protest
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. track — to keep track
  6. face — part of the head
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. hand — in cards
  10. track — a song
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. track — a path
  13. cold — an illness
  14. object — an aim
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. face — to point toward
  17. hand — help
  18. stand — to bear
  19. object — a thing
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. pass — a permit
  23. snap — to click
  24. cold — the Cold War

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