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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. spring — the season
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. lie — to recline
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. band — a music group
  11. spring — of water
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. mine — for digging
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. spring — a coil
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. ground — crushed
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. band — a ring

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