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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — the earth
  3. band — a ring
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mine — for digging
  7. ground — a position
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bat — the animal
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. pound — a weight
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. band — a music group
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. net — in sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. net — for catching
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. ground — crushed

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