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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. net — after costs
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. net — for catching
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. spring — a coil
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bore — to tire
  11. spring — the season
  12. net — in sport
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. clip — a video
  15. row — to paddle
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — to cut
  18. face — to point toward
  19. row — a line
  20. bore — to drill
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spring — of water

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