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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. face — to confront
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. face — to point toward
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. spring — of water
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spring — the season
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. wax — to grow
  15. board — to get on
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bat — the animal
  18. board — a committee
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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