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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. tear — from crying
  3. land — ground
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. cell — a phone
  6. court — of law
  7. court — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cap — a hat
  11. suit — in cards
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. land — a country
  14. rash — a series
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rash — hasty
  19. court — of a king
  20. suit — to fit
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. land — to come down
  23. tear — to rip
  24. suit — clothes

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