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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. staff — employees
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. drill — army training
  6. rash — a series
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. staff — employees
  9. rule — a law
  10. rash — hasty
  11. drill — a practice
  12. game — wild animals
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. rule — government
  17. field — a subject
  18. staff — a stick
  19. game — a match
  20. field — for sport
  21. drill — the tool
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitcher — a jug

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