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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: squash · cold · rest · wind · field · ball · bay · hide

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. rest — a break
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. ball — a great time
  7. field — farmland
  8. field — a subject
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. rest — what's left
  13. squash — to crush
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. squash — the sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rest — what's left
  19. ball — a dance
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. field — for sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — an illness
  24. squash — the vegetable

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