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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tube — a container
  6. drill — army training
  7. snap — to click
  8. court — of a king
  9. cue — a hint
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cue — a signal
  13. file — a line of people
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. file — a tool
  16. tube — the underground
  17. drill — the tool
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. file — a document
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. drill — a practice
  23. tear — from crying
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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