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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. cold — not warm
  5. object — a thing
  6. track — a path
  7. fall — the season
  8. track — to keep track
  9. object — an aim
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. fall — to drop
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fine — high quality
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. track — a song
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. fine — all right
  18. march — music
  19. march — the month
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. march — the month

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