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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. can — a tin
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. field — for sport
  6. hand — in cards
  7. clip — for paper
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — help
  13. pit — in a race
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. clip — a video
  17. pit — a hole
  18. field — a subject
  19. can — a tin
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. band — a music group
  22. can — to be able to
  23. band — a ring
  24. field — farmland

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