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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: march · hide · trunk · face · rock · rule · cold · mine

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. face — to confront
  3. mine — for digging
  4. march — music
  5. rock — a stone
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. cold — an illness
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. face — part of the head
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. rule — a law
  13. cold — not warm
  14. face — to point toward
  15. rock — music
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. rule — government
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — to keep secret

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