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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. swing — in golf
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. swing — music
  5. spring — a coil
  6. swing — to play on
  7. content — the amount
  8. cold — an illness
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. content — happy
  11. present — there
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spring — the season
  15. present — a gift
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — not warm
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. present — the time now
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bay — a horse colour

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