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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — help
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. file — a tool
  8. stand — to bear
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — to handle
  12. prune — to trim
  13. file — a document
  14. track — a song
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mine — for digging
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. track — to keep track
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. file — a line of people
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. track — a path

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