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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. row — to paddle
  8. field — farmland
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — the fruit
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. plane — a tool
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — a line
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. bat — the animal
  21. field — for sport
  22. bark — to shout
  23. field — a subject
  24. bat — for baseball

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