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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. bore — to drill
  8. ball — a great time
  9. spring — a coil
  10. court — of a king
  11. spring — the season
  12. court — for sport
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. court — of law
  17. spring — of water
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. rash — a series
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. rash — hasty
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. ball — a dance

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