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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rule — a law
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. scale — in music
  6. scale — size or range
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. swing — music
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. bark — to shout
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. swing — in golf
  17. fork — in a road
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. rule — government
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. sharp — clever
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. sharp — exactly

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