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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. saw — the tool
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. pass — a permit
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cold — an illness
  11. saw — the tool
  12. charge — in control
  13. hand — help
  14. cold — not warm
  15. tear — to rip
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tear — from crying
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. charge — a price
  23. tear — from crying
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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