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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. staff — employees
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. last — finally
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. staff — a stick
  14. pass — a permit
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. shower — rain
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. season — in sport
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. season — of the year
  23. kick — in football
  24. chest — of your body

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