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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. spring — the season
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — an illness
  8. net — in sport
  9. object — a thing
  10. swing — in golf
  11. key — the most important part
  12. swing — to play on
  13. key — in music
  14. land — a country
  15. spring — of water
  16. cold — not warm
  17. key — for a lock
  18. land — ground
  19. spring — a coil
  20. net — after costs
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. net — for catching
  23. object — to protest
  24. swing — music

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