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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 120 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fork — in a road
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. clip — for paper
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — a video
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. spring — the season
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — of water
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. staff — employees
  15. ball — a dance
  16. clip — to cut
  17. chest — a box
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. ball — a great time
  20. staff — a stick
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. game — wild animals
  23. staff — employees
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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