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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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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — to point toward
  6. cold — not warm
  7. spell — a short time
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. face — to confront
  10. game — a match
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. game — wild animals
  13. face — part of the head
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. spell — magic
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. spell — letters
  18. cold — an illness

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