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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hand — in cards
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. hand — help
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cell — in biology
  11. pass — a permit
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. cold — an illness
  14. shower — to wash
  15. date — the fruit
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. shower — rain
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — a phone
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. hand — part of the body

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