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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. swing — music
  3. cold — not warm
  4. game — a match
  5. cold — an illness
  6. squash — the sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — to crush
  11. game — wild animals
  12. pass — a permit
  13. fall — the season
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. fall — to drop
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. swing — to play on
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. net — after costs
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. swing — in golf
  24. net — in sport

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