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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. capital — a city
  3. shower — to wash
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. prune — to trim
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. prune — to trim
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. mine — for digging
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — to tease
  19. capital — money
  20. shower — rain
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. kid — child
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. prune — the fruit

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