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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Did you ________________ the button?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. press — a publisher
  4. staff — employees
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kid — to tease
  7. press — to push
  8. fall — to drop
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. spell — magic
  11. press — newspapers
  12. kid — child
  13. staff — employees
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spell — letters
  16. shower — rain
  17. fall — the season
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. pass — a permit
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. snap — to click
  22. shower — to wash
  23. spell — a short time
  24. staff — a stick

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