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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: pass · nail · pop · cold · bat · straw · kid · rash

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  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. kid — to tease
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rash — a series
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. pass — a permit
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. pop — music
  12. kid — child
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. rash — hasty
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cold — not warm
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pop — soda
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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