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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. wind — moving air
  3. suit — in cards
  4. staff — a stick
  5. spell — magic
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — the animal
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. wound — an injury
  10. land — ground
  11. wound — an injury
  12. spell — a short time
  13. spell — letters
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. suit — to fit
  16. staff — employees
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wind — moving air
  19. suit — clothes
  20. land — a country
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. land — to come down
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. staff — employees

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