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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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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: shower · roll · calf · firm · plane · field · hide · cold

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. cold — not warm
  3. plane — a tool
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. roll — a cake
  7. field — farmland
  8. firm — steady
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. firm — decided
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. shower — rain
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. shower — to wash
  18. firm — a company
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. roll — a list
  21. field — for sport
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. cold — an illness
  24. calf — of the leg

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