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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pass — a permit
  3. hand — help
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — rain
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. shower — to wash
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mine — for digging
  14. stand — to bear
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. hand — in cards
  18. current — happening now
  19. current — of water
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. chair — a leader
  22. current — electric
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. pass — to spend time

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