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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. face — to point toward
  9. hand — in cards
  10. cell — a phone
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. face — to confront
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cell — in biology
  16. face — part of the head
  17. wax — to grow
  18. 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