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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bass — the fish
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. mine — for digging
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. bat — the animal
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. hand — help
  18. cap — a hat
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bass — low music
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. trunk — of a car

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