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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. spell — magic
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. kid — to tease
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cold — an illness
  8. spell — a short time
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. scale — size or range
  11. kid — child
  12. scale — in music
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — to get on
  15. spell — letters
  16. net — for catching
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. snap — to click
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. pass — a permit
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — after costs
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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