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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. march — the month
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. spring — a coil
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. march — music
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. march — the month
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. chest — a box
  17. bark — to shout
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. toast — bread
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. chest — of your body
  24. branch — a division

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