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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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468
Word bank
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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. kid — child
  3. wound — an injury
  4. spell — letters
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. wound — an injury
  8. tube — a container
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. spell — a short time
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. tube — the underground
  17. chip — for betting
  18. pass — a permit
  19. chip — to eat
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. spell — magic
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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