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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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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. cold — not warm
  4. bore — to tire
  5. file — a tool
  6. file — a line of people
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. bore — to drill
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. track — to keep track
  12. squash — the sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a document
  15. squash — to crush
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. track — a path

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