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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 116 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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. last — final
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. net — in sport
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — not warm
  9. last — to go on
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cold — an illness
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. wax — to grow
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. last — finally
  18. dip — to sink
  19. net — after costs
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. net — for catching
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. straw — dry grass

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