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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. perch — the fish
  6. cold — not warm
  7. squash — the sport
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cold — an illness
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. squash — to crush
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. pass — a permit
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. perch — for a bird

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