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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bore — to drill
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. swing — music
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bore — to tire
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bat — the animal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. cold — an illness
  15. can — a tin
  16. ground — a position
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. can — to be able to
  20. swing — to play on
  21. can — a tin
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — the earth
  24. bat — for baseball

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