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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. land — ground
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. drill — army training
  6. last — final
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bat — the animal
  9. degree — an amount
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. drill — a practice
  13. drill — the tool
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. land — to come down
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. land — a country
  19. degree — from a university
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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