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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. court — of law
  6. squash — to crush
  7. court — of a king
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. shower — to wash
  11. court — for sport
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — an illness
  14. shower — rain
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. squash — the sport
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. stem — to come from
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fan — a supporter

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