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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. bass — low music
  5. tear — from crying
  6. prune — to trim
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. kid — to tease
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. band — a ring
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. bass — the fish
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. 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