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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. rest — a break
  4. land — ground
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. rest — what's left
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rest — what's left
  18. land — a country
  19. march — music
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. march — the month
  22. land — to come down
  23. squash — the sport
  24. bark — to shout

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