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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 116 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. mark — a grade
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. row — a line
  8. shower — rain
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — a video
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rash — a series
  14. capital — money
  15. rash — hasty
  16. capital — a city
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. row — to paddle
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mark — a trace

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