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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — wild animals
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. spring — a coil
  9. race — the arms race
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. spring — of water
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — a contest
  17. spring — the season
  18. race — humankind
  19. cold — an illness
  20. game — a match
  21. wax — to grow
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. 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