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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. clip — for paper
  4. court — for sport
  5. bear — the animal
  6. pop — to visit
  7. pop — music
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pop — soda
  10. bound — certain
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. clip — a video
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bat — the animal
  17. wound — an injury
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bear — the animal
  21. bound — obliged
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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