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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. charge — electricity
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. rock — music
  6. clip — a video
  7. fall — to drop
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. tear — from crying
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. fall — to drop
  12. tear — from crying
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tear — to rip
  15. fall — the season
  16. rock — a stone
  17. board — to get on
  18. charge — a price
  19. clip — for paper
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. charge — in control
  22. board — a committee
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. hide — to keep secret

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