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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. scale — in music
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. content — happy
  9. last — finally
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cell — in biology
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cell — a phone
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — final
  22. scale — size or range
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. content — the amount

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