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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. drill — army training
  3. mine — for digging
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. mate — a partner
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. scale — in music
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. shower — to wash
  12. drill — the tool
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. shower — rain
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. scale — size or range
  17. drill — a practice
  18. mate — a friend
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. mate — to breed
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — child

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