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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pass — a permit
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bear — the animal
  14. last — final
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. cold — an illness
  17. last — finally
  18. bear — the animal
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bat — the animal
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. rest — a break

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