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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cap — of ice
  5. drill — army training
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. content — the amount
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. cap — a lid
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. content — happy
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — an illness
  19. drill — the tool
  20. clip — a video
  21. bulb — for light
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bulb — for light
  24. clip — for paper

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