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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. last — to go on
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. clip — a video
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. last — finally
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. bat — the animal
  16. scale — size or range
  17. last — final
  18. scale — in music
  19. rush — hurry
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rash — hasty
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rash — a series
  24. bat — in an idiom

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