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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. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. spring — a coil
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. spring — of water
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kid — to tease
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spring — the season
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. cold — not warm
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. kid — child
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bat — in an idiom

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