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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. march — music
  3. roll — a list
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — clever
  6. ball — a great time
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. march — the month
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. roll — a cake
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ground — a position
  15. ball — a dance
  16. march — the month
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. tear — to rip
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. tear — from crying
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. ground — crushed

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