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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bass — low music
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. land — ground
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. bass — the fish
  13. kick — in football
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. wound — an injury
  17. land — to come down
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. dip — to sink
  20. land — a country
  21. wound — an injury
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a music group
  24. bass — the instrument

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