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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. chest — of your body
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. chest — a box
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. mine — for digging
  13. chest — of your body
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. kid — child
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. kid — to tease
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cold — not warm
  24. sharp — clever

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