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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 120 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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. land — a country
  4. chest — a box
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cell — a phone
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. bat — the animal
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mark — a grade
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. chest — of your body
  19. land — ground
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. land — to come down
  24. chest — of your body

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