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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. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  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 — to keep secret
  2. stem — to come from
  3. land — to come down
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. cell — a phone
  8. land — ground
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. pit — a hole
  17. land — a country
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pit — in a race
  23. hide — animal skin
  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