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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 124 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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. chest — of your body
  3. row — a line
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. cold — not warm
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. bound — certain
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. ball — a great time
  18. bound — obliged
  19. ball — a dance
  20. bound — tied together
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. chest — a box
  24. ball — a round shape

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