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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. staff — employees
  3. staff — employees
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — a phone
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. cold — not warm
  10. staff — a stick
  11. drill — army training
  12. pass — a permit
  13. chair — a leader
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. tube — a container
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — the underground
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. branch — a division
  24. cell — in a prison

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