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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. clip — for paper
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. kid — child
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bear — the animal
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. row — a line
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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