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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  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. face — to confront
  3. clip — a video
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. ball — a great time
  7. wake — a trail
  8. saw — the tool
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — for paper
  12. face — part of the head
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. saw — the tool
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. face — to point toward
  23. wake — before a funeral
  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