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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. hand — help
  4. craft — boats
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. hand — in cards
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chip — for betting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. craft — a skill
  11. shower — rain
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. file — a document
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bass — the fish
  19. file — a tool
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. shower — to wash
  22. file — a line of people
  23. bass — low music
  24. chip — to eat

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