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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rest — what's left
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. rest — a break
  8. snap — to click
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. pit — a hole
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. net — for catching
  15. pass — a permit
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. net — in sport
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pit — in a race
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pass — to spend time

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