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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. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. perch — the fish
  2. rash — hasty
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. staff — employees
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tube — the underground
  8. tube — a container
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. staff — employees
  12. cold — not warm
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. staff — a stick
  19. rash — a series
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cold — an illness
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pitch — completely
  24. tube — in a tire

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