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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. kid — to tease
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. craft — boats
  7. kid — child
  8. lean — to bend
  9. clip — to cut
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. march — music
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. lean — thin
  16. rash — a series
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. craft — a skill
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. march — the month
  21. rash — hasty
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. mine — for digging
  24. march — the month

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