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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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. land — ground
  4. pound — a weight
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — for pool
  8. land — to come down
  9. wound — an injury
  10. scale — size or range
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wound — an injury
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. fall — the season
  16. scale — in music
  17. cue — a signal
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. fall — to drop
  23. land — a country
  24. pound — for dogs

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