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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. chest — a box
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. lie — to recline
  6. land — ground
  7. mug — a face
  8. mug — to rob
  9. cold — an illness
  10. land — to come down
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. mug — a cup
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. land — a country
  16. chest — of your body
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. craft — a skill
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  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