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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 wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bat — the animal
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cold — an illness
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. snap — to click
  10. field — farmland
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. field — for sport
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. perch — the fish
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. field — a subject
  24. pass — a permit

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