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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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. kid — to tease
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rock — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. spring — of water
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. stand — to bear
  12. spring — a coil
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. ball — a dance
  16. rock — a stone
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. clip — a video
  19. stock — goods
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. stock — shares
  22. kid — child
  23. spring — the season
  24. stock — a soup base

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