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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. cold — not warm
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. key — for a lock
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. key — in music
  11. march — the month
  12. bat — the animal
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. march — music
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. dip — to sink
  17. cold — an illness
  18. march — the month
  19. rush — hurry
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. key — the most important part
  24. bat — for baseball

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