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

Word bank: toast · patient · cold · bat · snap · tube · pass · lie

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. toast — bread
  5. tube — the underground
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. pass — a permit
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. lie — to recline
  12. tube — a container
  13. snap — to click
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. cold — an illness
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. bat — the animal
  24. cold — not warm

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