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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — not warm
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. bass — low music
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. pound — a weight
  12. season — in sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bass — the fish
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. season — of the year
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. bass — the instrument
  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