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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 120 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: cold · hide · face · court · pass · key · object · racket

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. pass — a permit
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. key — the most important part
  10. key — for a lock
  11. object — a thing
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cold — an illness
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — not warm
  16. court — of law
  17. key — in music
  18. face — to confront
  19. object — an aim
  20. face — to point toward
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. court — of a king
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. face — part of the head

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