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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cold — an illness
  3. object — a thing
  4. cold — not warm
  5. face — to confront
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. content — happy
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. face — to point toward
  12. content — the amount
  13. mate — to breed
  14. object — an aim
  15. face — part of the head
  16. object — to protest
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. hide — to keep secret

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