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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. hand — help
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — a phone
  7. bass — low music
  8. rash — a series
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bass — the fish
  12. capital — money
  13. fall — to drop
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. rash — hasty
  17. hand — in cards
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. cell — in biology
  24. coach — a trainer

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