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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. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. ball — a dance
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. spring — the season
  8. spring — of water
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. press — to push
  11. shower — rain
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. shower — to wash
  14. spring — a coil
  15. ball — a great time
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. press — newspapers
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. press — a publisher
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. bark — to shout
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. content — videos and posts

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