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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. bark — to shout
  5. stem — to come from
  6. hand — help
  7. charge — in control
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. game — wild animals
  12. hand — in cards
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. charge — electricity
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. game — a match
  18. pass — a permit
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. sharp — clever
  23. charge — a price
  24. dip — to sink

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