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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: cold · pass · drill · snap · staff · wake · clip · lie

  1. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to spend time
  2. snap — to click
  3. staff — a stick
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lie — to recline
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — for paper
  10. drill — a practice
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — employees
  13. clip — to cut
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. pass — a permit
  17. drill — army training
  18. clip — a video
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wake — a trail
  24. drill — the tool

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