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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mug — to rob
  3. stem — to come from
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mug — a face
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. mug — a cup
  9. kick — in football
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. cold — an illness
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. cold — not warm
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. pitch — completely
  20. row — to paddle
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. row — a line
  24. hide — to keep secret

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