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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. degree — an amount
  4. kid — child
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. squash — to crush
  7. face — to confront
  8. file — a tool
  9. face — part of the head
  10. firm — steady
  11. file — a line of people
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. firm — decided
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. squash — the sport
  16. face — to point toward
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. degree — temperature
  20. kid — to tease
  21. file — a document
  22. firm — a company
  23. degree — from a university
  24. hide — animal skin

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