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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 124 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. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. mine — for digging
  4. spring — a coil
  5. file — a tool
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. spring — of water
  9. board — a committee
  10. roll — a cake
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. roll — a list
  13. file — a line of people
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. file — a document
  16. spring — the season
  17. foot — a measure
  18. board — to get on
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. march — the month
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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