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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. stand — to bear
  6. race — humankind
  7. season — of the year
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. cell — a phone
  15. race — the arms race
  16. sharp — clever
  17. race — a contest
  18. bat — the animal
  19. kid — child
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. season — in sport

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