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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. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bound — obliged
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rash — a series
  9. bound — tied together
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. swing — in golf
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. wake — a trail
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — to play on
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. bound — certain
  19. club — for dancing
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. chest — a box
  22. club — for golf
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. club — a group

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