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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 124 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. file — a tool
  3. rash — a series
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. rash — hasty
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — to shout
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. file — a document
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. chest — a box
  22. mine — for digging
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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