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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  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. field — farmland
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kid — child
  5. field — a subject
  6. kid — to tease
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. kick — in football
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. fall — the season
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. chest — a box
  18. field — for sport
  19. chair — a leader
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fall — to drop
  23. kick — with a leg
  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