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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cell — in biology
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spring — of water
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. face — part of the head
  11. wind — moving air
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. stock — shares
  14. pop — to visit
  15. pop — music
  16. stock — goods
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — to point toward
  22. spring — a coil
  23. pop — soda
  24. cell — a phone

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