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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 120 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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — to rip
  4. bound — certain
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. snap — to click
  8. pop — soda
  9. file — a document
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. pop — to visit
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. file — a line of people
  19. net — in sport
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. pop — music
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. file — a tool
  24. wake — a trail

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