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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. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. ground — crushed
  5. bat — the animal
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. date — the fruit
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rush — hurry
  15. last — finally
  16. last — final
  17. rash — a series
  18. last — to go on
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. rash — hasty
  24. date — on the calendar

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