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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mine — for digging
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. dip — to sink
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. bat — the animal
  14. spell — magic
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. saw — the tool
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spell — a short time
  22. saw — the tool
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. spell — letters

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