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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. last — finally
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. last — final
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. last — to go on
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. spring — the season
  11. bat — the animal
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rush — hurry
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spring — a coil
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. spring — of water

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