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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. clip — to cut
  3. swing — music
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. track — to keep track
  7. track — a path
  8. kid — child
  9. press — a publisher
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. swing — to play on
  15. kid — to tease
  16. press — newspapers
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. press — to push
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. swing — in golf
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. track — a song
  24. snap — to click

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