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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 124 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. present — the time now
  3. present — a gift
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. pass — a permit
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. chest — of your body
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. chest — a box
  14. court — of a king
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. court — of law
  20. dip — to sink
  21. present — there
  22. chest — of your body
  23. saw — the tool
  24. court — for sport

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