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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 124 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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. present — the time now
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cell — a phone
  6. wake — a trail
  7. chest — of your body
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cell — in biology
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. chest — a box
  12. present — a gift
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. present — there
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. pass — a permit

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