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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. last — to go on
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. file — a tool
  6. last — final
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. spell — magic
  10. fall — the season
  11. spell — letters
  12. file — a document
  13. fall — to drop
  14. last — finally
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spell — a short time
  17. file — a line of people
  18. fall — to drop

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