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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. last — final
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. clip — a video
  7. last — finally
  8. wind — moving air
  9. clip — for paper
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kid — to tease
  13. clip — to cut
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. foot — a measure
  18. bear — the animal
  19. last — to go on
  20. bear — the animal
  21. lean — to bend
  22. kid — child
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. lean — to rest against

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