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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. tube — the underground
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. tube — a container
  6. net — for catching
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. degree — temperature
  10. capital — a city
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. degree — an amount
  13. capital — money
  14. mate — a friend
  15. net — in sport
  16. mate — a partner
  17. degree — from a university
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bat — the animal
  20. net — after costs
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. mate — to breed
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. tube — in a tire

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