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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. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. scale — in music
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. court — of a king
  6. scale — size or range
  7. sharp — clever
  8. mine — for digging
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. tear — to rip
  11. court — for sport
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. bat — the animal
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. court — of law
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. tear — from crying
  24. tear — from crying

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