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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. mug — a cup
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kid — child
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. tear — from crying
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pass — a permit
  9. ball — a great time
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. mug — a face
  12. chest — of your body
  13. ball — a dance
  14. tear — to rip
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. tear — from crying
  20. mug — to rob
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. chest — a box
  24. wind — to turn a key

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