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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. cue — a signal
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. tear — from crying
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. cue — for pool
  8. row — a line
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tear — to rip
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. wind — moving air
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cue — a hint
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. row — to paddle
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. jam — in traffic

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