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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 116 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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468
Word bank
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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. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. land — to come down
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. land — ground
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. file — a line of people
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. file — a document
  13. hand — help
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. bass — the fish
  17. land — a country
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. file — a tool
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. bass — low music

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