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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. last — final
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bore — to tire
  8. current — electric
  9. last — finally
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. spell — letters
  12. last — to go on
  13. clip — for paper
  14. current — of water
  15. bore — to drill
  16. spell — a short time
  17. spell — magic
  18. fall — the season
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. current — happening now
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. clip — a video
  23. pitch — completely
  24. clip — to cut

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