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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 120 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chip — to eat
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. row — to paddle
  6. chest — a box
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. shower — to wash
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. spring — the season
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. spring — a coil
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spring — of water
  17. fall — the season
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — help
  21. fall — to drop
  22. chip — for betting
  23. shower — rain
  24. fall — to drop

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