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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. cold — an illness
  5. land — to come down
  6. object — an aim
  7. object — a thing
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. saw — the tool
  11. file — a tool
  12. present — a gift
  13. land — a country
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. deal — to handle
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. file — a document
  18. present — the time now
  19. object — to protest
  20. land — ground
  21. file — a line of people
  22. present — there
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hide — to keep secret

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