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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. club — for dancing
  4. club — a group
  5. track — a song
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. club — for golf
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. saw — the tool
  12. track — a path
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — for sport
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. track — to keep track
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. saw — the tool
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. capital — a city
  23. wound — an injury
  24. capital — money

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