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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. mate — to breed
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. mate — a partner
  6. bark — to shout
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. wax — to grow
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — a coil
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. wound — an injury
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. shower — to wash
  17. spring — the season
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. mate — a friend
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. hide — to keep secret

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