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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bulb — for light
  3. bound — tied together
  4. shower — rain
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. march — the month
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — for sport
  9. bulb — for light
  10. shower — to wash
  11. kid — child
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — certain
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. court — of law
  18. march — music
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. content — the amount
  22. march — the month
  23. kid — to tease
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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