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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 124 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · race · drill · stand · cell · hide

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — an illness
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. race — a contest
  5. cell — a phone
  6. race — the arms race
  7. drill — a practice
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. drill — army training
  12. stand — to bear
  13. race — humankind
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — not warm
  18. drill — the tool

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