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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. hand — help
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kid — to tease
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. snap — to click
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. cold — an illness
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. branch — a division
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cap — of ice
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. cap — a hat
  18. spell — magic
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. kid — child
  21. hand — in cards
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cap — a lid
  24. spell — letters

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