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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. kid — to tease
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. kid — child
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. land — ground
  13. land — to come down
  14. lean — thin
  15. content — happy
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. content — the amount
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — a country
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. lean — to bend

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