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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. file — a tool
  3. hand — help
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. stem — to come from
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. hand — in cards
  13. march — the month
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. march — the month
  17. file — a document
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. saw — the tool
  20. saw — the tool
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. file — a line of people
  23. date — the fruit
  24. march — music

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