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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. clip — to cut
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — for paper
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. chest — of your body
  8. face — part of the head
  9. clip — a video
  10. chest — of your body
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. staff — employees
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — to confront
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. pass — a permit
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cold — not warm
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. staff — employees
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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