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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. field — a subject
  4. bass — low music
  5. perch — the fish
  6. snap — to click
  7. field — for sport
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. field — farmland
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. bass — the fish
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. cold — an illness
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — not warm

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