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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  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 — to keep secret
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. ground — crushed
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. bore — to tire
  7. rash — hasty
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. ball — a great time
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. clip — a video
  15. rash — a series
  16. chair — a leader
  17. file — a tool
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bore — to drill
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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