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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. current — electric
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. rash — hasty
  8. stem — to come from
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. current — of water
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rash — a series
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cold — an illness
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. current — happening now
  18. cap — a hat
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. pass — a permit
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cap — of ice
  24. leaves — lets stay

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