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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. mate — to breed
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. cap — a hat
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. mate — a partner
  12. drill — army training
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. clip — for paper
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. clip — a video
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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