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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: court · cold · sharp · object · trunk · tear · nail · hide

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. tear — to rip
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. court — of law
  13. object — a thing
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. tear — from crying
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. court — of a king
  20. tear — from crying
  21. object — an aim
  22. object — to protest
  23. cold — not warm
  24. nail — for a hammer

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