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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. spring — a coil
  3. march — the month
  4. spring — of water
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. saw — the tool
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. saw — the tool
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mine — for digging
  11. tear — from crying
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. spring — the season
  14. tear — to rip
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. tear — from crying
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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