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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pop — to visit
  3. file — a tool
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pass — a permit
  6. net — after costs
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. net — for catching
  10. pop — music
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. dip — to sink
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pop — soda
  16. file — a line of people
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. snap — to click
  20. field — farmland
  21. file — a document
  22. net — in sport
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. dip — a sauce

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