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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.

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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. pass — a permit
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. ball — a dance
  6. pound — a weight
  7. spring — a coil
  8. cold — not warm
  9. ball — a great time
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spring — of water
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. face — to confront
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — child
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. kid — to tease
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. spring — the season
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. pass — to succeed
  24. face — part of the head

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