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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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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: tear · ground · cold · band · hide · drill · face · cabinet

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ground — a position
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — the tool
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — to point toward
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. face — part of the head
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. tear — from crying
  19. band — a ring
  20. ground — the earth
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. tear — to rip
  23. tear — from crying
  24. drill — army training

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