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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. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bass — low music
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chest — a box
  8. capital — a city
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. capital — money
  13. kick — in football
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. tear — from crying
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. tear — to rip
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. mine — for digging
  24. bass — the fish

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