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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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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. tube — the underground
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. object — a thing
  9. prune — to trim
  10. tube — a container
  11. object — to protest
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. court — of law
  15. object — an aim
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of a king
  18. row — to paddle
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. cold — not warm
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. mine — for digging
  23. prune — to trim
  24. hide — to keep secret

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