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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  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. chair — a leader
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. charge — electricity
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. charge — a price
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. last — to go on
  14. rash — a series
  15. last — finally
  16. charge — in control
  17. last — final
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bear — the animal
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bear — the animal
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bark — to shout
  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