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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: nail · cold · tear · hide · band · cap · cell · lie

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. lie — an untruth
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cell — in biology
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — an illness
  7. band — a ring
  8. lie — to recline
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. tear — to rip
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cold — not warm
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cap — a lid
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cell — a phone
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. band — a music group
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. cap — of ice
  23. band — a rubber band
  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