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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. mug — a face
  4. pound — a weight
  5. wound — an injury
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. mug — a cup
  8. chest — of your body
  9. pass — a permit
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. chest — a box
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cap — of ice
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. wound — an injury
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. cap — a lid
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. cap — a hat
  24. mug — to rob

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