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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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rash — hasty
  10. kid — to tease
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. pass — a permit
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rash — a series
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. cell — in biology

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