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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: charge · face · stock · field · hide · tube · cold · wind

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wind — moving air
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. stock — goods
  6. field — a subject
  7. field — farmland
  8. face — to confront
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. charge — a price
  15. tube — the underground
  16. tube — a container
  17. stock — shares
  18. charge — in control
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. field — for sport
  21. face — part of the head
  22. cold — an illness
  23. face — to point toward
  24. charge — electricity

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