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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. staff — employees
  5. hand — help
  6. spring — of water
  7. object — a thing
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. staff — a stick
  10. staff — employees
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bark — to shout
  13. spring — the season
  14. key — in music
  15. spring — a coil
  16. object — to protest
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. object — an aim
  20. key — for a lock
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. key — the most important part
  24. hand — in cards

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