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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 116 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: race · hide · tube · mate · snap · bark · face · cold

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. tube — a container
  4. tube — the underground
  5. race — humankind
  6. cold — not warm
  7. face — to confront
  8. face — part of the head
  9. snap — to click
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. mate — to breed
  13. bark — to shout
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. face — to point toward
  16. mate — a friend
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. race — a contest
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. mate — a partner

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