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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cold — an illness
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. key — the most important part
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. pass — a permit
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. pit — in a race
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. pit — a hole
  17. key — for a lock
  18. race — a contest
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. key — in music
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. kid — child
  24. cold — the Cold War

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