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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — money
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. fall — the season
  6. swing — in golf
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. swing — to play on
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. mark — a grade
  14. swing — music
  15. capital — a city
  16. mark — a trace
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. fall — to drop
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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