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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. charge — electricity
  3. game — wild animals
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bear — the animal
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — in music
  10. cold — an illness
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. net — in sport
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. game — a match
  16. net — for catching
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. bear — the animal
  20. charge — a price
  21. net — after costs
  22. charge — in control
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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