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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. last — final
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. rest — what's left
  8. game — wild animals
  9. hand — in cards
  10. last — finally
  11. lie — to recline
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. clip — a video
  15. last — to go on
  16. present — the time now
  17. rest — what's left
  18. present — there
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — for paper
  22. present — a gift
  23. hand — help
  24. lie — an untruth

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