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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. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. tear — from crying
  3. root — of a word
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tear — from crying
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cue — a hint
  9. clip — a video
  10. cue — for pool
  11. tear — to rip
  12. root — of a plant
  13. game — a match
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cue — a signal
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. game — wild animals
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. root — the cause

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