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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wound · mouse · cold · land · foot · game · hide · stand

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. land — ground
  8. game — a match
  9. foot — a measure
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cold — not warm
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. land — a country
  20. game — wild animals
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. land — to come down
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. foot — part of the body

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