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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. scale — in music
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. scale — size or range
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. field — a subject
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. squash — the sport
  10. wax — to grow
  11. kick — in football
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. squash — to crush
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. drill — the tool
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — farmland
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. drill — a practice
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. drill — army training

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