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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 120 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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. bore — to drill
  3. dip — to sink
  4. field — farmland
  5. present — there
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. clip — to cut
  8. field — for sport
  9. clip — for paper
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. present — a gift
  12. march — music
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. bore — to tire
  15. net — after costs
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. net — in sport
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. clip — a video
  20. march — the month
  21. field — a subject
  22. net — for catching
  23. present — the time now
  24. march — the month

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