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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. sharp — clever
  4. bass — low music
  5. court — of a king
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. court — of law
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bass — the fish
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — size or range
  16. field — for sport
  17. field — a subject
  18. rash — a series
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. rash — hasty
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. field — farmland
  23. court — for sport
  24. sharp — with an edge

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