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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. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. staff — a stick
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. capital — money
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. spring — a coil
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. pitch — completely
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bark — to shout
  17. wax — to grow
  18. lie — to recline
  19. spring — the season
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. spring — of water
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. staff — employees
  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