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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ground — crushed
  3. mark — a grade
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. prune — to trim
  8. prune — to trim
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. pitch — completely
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bat — the animal
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. mark — a trace
  24. ground — a position

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