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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. row — a line
  3. ground — crushed
  4. craft — boats
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. ground — the earth
  13. wound — an injury
  14. branch — a division
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. wound — an injury
  17. craft — a skill
  18. ground — a position
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. row — to paddle
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. pitch — completely
  24. mine — for digging

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