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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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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. cold — an illness
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pit — in a race
  9. spring — the season
  10. field — for sport
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. field — farmland
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. field — a subject
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. deal — to handle
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. kick — in football
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hide — to keep secret

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