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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: hide · rest · degree · cold · drill · staff · board · wound

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. staff — employees
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. staff — employees
  5. board — a committee
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. drill — army training
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — the tool
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — not warm
  14. staff — a stick
  15. degree — temperature
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. degree — from a university
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. degree — an amount
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rest — a break
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wound — an injury

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