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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. swing — music
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. shower — rain
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. fine — high quality
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. swing — in golf
  11. wound — an injury
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. spring — a coil
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. shower — to wash
  18. spring — of water
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. spring — the season
  21. season — of the year
  22. swing — to play on
  23. clip — to cut
  24. wound — an injury

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