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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 112 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. swing — in golf
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. row — a line
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. row — to paddle
  9. file — a document
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. cold — not warm
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. swing — music
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. charge — a price
  17. wax — to grow
  18. charge — in control
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. file — a tool
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. file — a line of people
  23. charge — electricity
  24. swing — to play on

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