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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — not warm
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. shower — rain
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. kick — in football
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. dip — to sink
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. cold — an illness
  24. straw — a straw man

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