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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. object — an aim
  3. swing — to play on
  4. row — a line
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. bulb — for light
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — a phone
  9. swing — in golf
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. wound — an injury
  15. spell — letters
  16. spell — magic
  17. bulb — for light
  18. wound — an injury
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. object — to protest
  23. swing — music
  24. object — a thing

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