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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: kid · present · face · club · hide · cold

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. face — to confront
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. cold — not warm
  6. club — for golf
  7. present — the time now
  8. face — part of the head
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — a group
  11. present — there
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. face — to point toward
  18. present — a gift

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