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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. club — for golf
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. rule — a law
  8. club — a group
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. rule — government
  21. game — a match
  22. hand — help
  23. club — for dancing
  24. game — wild animals

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