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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: hide · chest · straw · spring · calf · mug · pass · bat

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. mug — a face
  4. mug — a cup
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. mug — to rob
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. bat — the animal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. spring — the season
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. pass — a permit
  24. chest — of your body

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