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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 116 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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fall — the season
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. wind — moving air
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. field — for sport
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. fall — to drop
  11. net — after costs
  12. field — farmland
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. net — for catching
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. field — a subject
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. net — in sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. fall — to drop
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. mine — belonging to me

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