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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 120 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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. march — the month
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pop — music
  5. rash — hasty
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. land — a country
  10. march — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — soda
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wake — a trail
  15. rash — a series
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. march — the month
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. land — ground
  21. perch — the fish
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. land — to come down

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