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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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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: hide · tear · bay · face · mark · current · row · cold

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. current — happening now
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. row — a line
  8. face — to confront
  9. mark — a grade
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. current — of water
  13. face — to point toward
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. current — electric
  17. tear — from crying
  18. face — part of the head
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. row — to paddle
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mark — a trace
  24. mark — to pay attention

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