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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 116 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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. drill — army training
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kid — child
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cap — a lid
  10. bark — to shout
  11. drill — a practice
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kid — to tease
  15. cap — a hat
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. hide — to keep secret

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