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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 120 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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. chest — of your body
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pit — in a race
  6. pit — a hole
  7. field — a subject
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. band — a music group
  10. rest — what's left
  11. field — for sport
  12. pass — a permit
  13. wind — moving air
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. wind — moving air
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — a break
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. field — farmland
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. chest — a box

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