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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cold — an illness
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. swing — to play on
  5. tear — from crying
  6. swing — music
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. land — to come down
  11. cold — not warm
  12. land — a country
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mug — a face
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. lie — to recline
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. mug — to rob
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. land — ground
  24. hide — animal skin

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