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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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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: trunk · hide · cold · charge · deal · mate · wound · tear

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. charge — in control
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mate — to breed
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. mate — a partner
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. tear — from crying
  10. charge — electricity
  11. charge — a price
  12. deal — to handle
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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