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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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 — animal skin
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. ball — a great time
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. row — a line
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. root — of a plant
  9. root — the cause
  10. cold — not warm
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cold — an illness
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. dip — to sink
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. row — to paddle
  19. root — of a word
  20. rush — hurry
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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