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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 116 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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. row — a line
  3. snap — to click
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. mine — for digging
  7. fine — high quality
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. row — to paddle
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — a practice
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. drill — the tool
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — from crying
  19. scale — in music
  20. tear — to rip
  21. fine — all right
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. scale — size or range

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