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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. 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. prune — the fruit
  3. board — a committee
  4. race — a contest
  5. prune — to trim
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pass — a permit
  10. board — to get on
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — in music
  14. race — humankind
  15. kid — to tease
  16. cold — not warm
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. race — the arms race
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. scale — size or range
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. 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