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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. shower — to wash
  3. can — a tin
  4. bat — the animal
  5. shower — rain
  6. rash — a series
  7. mate — a partner
  8. can — to be able to
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rash — hasty
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. content — happy
  17. mate — a friend
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. content — the amount
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. can — a tin
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. mate — to breed
  24. pass — to succeed

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