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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. net — after costs
  3. shower — to wash
  4. shower — rain
  5. toast — bread
  6. field — farmland
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. net — in sport
  10. stand — to bear
  11. net — for catching
  12. cell — in biology
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. field — a subject
  16. chest — a box
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. field — for sport
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cell — a phone
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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