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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 not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wound — an injury
  3. ground — crushed
  4. bear — the animal
  5. object — to protest
  6. object — a thing
  7. ground — a position
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. spell — letters
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. spell — a short time
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. spell — magic
  19. ground — the earth
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wake — a trail
  24. object — an aim

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