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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — for digging
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rock — a stone
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fall — the season
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. fall — to drop
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. cold — not warm
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. rock — music

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