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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. scale — in music
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chip — for betting
  9. chip — to eat
  10. cold — an illness
  11. capital — a city
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. ball — a great time
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. shower — rain
  19. ball — a dance
  20. scale — size or range
  21. capital — money
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. leaves — of a tree
  24. shower — to wash

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