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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. last — final
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mine — for digging
  8. last — to go on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. last — finally
  11. rest — what's left
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pass — a permit
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. pass — to succeed

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