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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. file — a document
  3. bark — to shout
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. degree — from a university
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. file — a line of people
  8. degree — temperature
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. kid — to tease
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. degree — an amount
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. file — a tool
  20. kid — child
  21. stand — to bear
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. chest — a box
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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