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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. toast — bread
  5. fall — to drop
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. shower — to wash
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. dip — to sink
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. prune — to trim
  20. shower — rain
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. toast — the most admired

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