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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. row — a line
  3. content — happy
  4. pass — to spend time
  5. fall — to drop
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. snap — to click
  10. content — the amount
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bank — of a river
  13. bank — for money
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. fall — to drop
  18. row — to paddle
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fall — the season
  23. pass — a permit
  24. bank — for money

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