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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. snap — to click
  3. root — of a word
  4. rest — a break
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. rest — what's left
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — ground
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. hand — help
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. pass — a permit
  14. land — a country
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. rest — what's left
  20. land — to come down
  21. chest — of your body
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a plant
  24. chest — a box

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