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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — crushed
  3. row — a line
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. spring — the season
  7. bark — to shout
  8. cell — a phone
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. current — happening now
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. row — to paddle
  14. spring — a coil
  15. current — of water
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — a position
  18. stock — shares
  19. stock — goods
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. spring — of water
  22. current — electric
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. row — a quarrel

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