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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cell — a phone
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. ground — crushed
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pass — a permit
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ground — a position
  17. snap — to click
  18. mate — to breed
  19. wake — a trail
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. rest — a break
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bat — for baseball

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