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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: race · hide · cold · ball · bowl · chair

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. race — a contest
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. race — humankind
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. cold — not warm
  12. race — the arms race
  13. chair — a leader
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a round shape

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