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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 are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. clip — for paper
  4. scale — size or range
  5. chip — to eat
  6. shower — to wash
  7. shower — rain
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. cold — an illness
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. clip — to cut
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. deal — to handle
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chip — for betting
  18. saw — the tool
  19. scale — in music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — the Cold War

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