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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 116 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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. pop — to visit
  4. rash — hasty
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. hand — help
  8. last — final
  9. rash — a series
  10. last — to go on
  11. sharp — clever
  12. last — finally
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. hand — in cards
  16. cell — a phone
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. pop — music
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. pass — a permit
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cell — in biology
  24. sharp — exactly

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