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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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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: nail · cold · rash · hide · object · tube · pitcher · land

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. object — an aim
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. tube — the underground
  8. rash — a series
  9. land — a country
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. land — ground
  12. object — to protest
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. rash — hasty
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. object — a thing
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. land — to come down
  22. tube — a container
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. tube — in a tire

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