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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bore · net · firm · cold · field · present · file · hide

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. file — a tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. firm — steady
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. field — a subject
  7. present — the time now
  8. file — a line of people
  9. field — farmland
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. cold — an illness
  12. net — for catching
  13. firm — decided
  14. file — a document
  15. present — a gift
  16. bore — to tire
  17. net — after costs
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. present — there
  20. firm — a company
  21. net — in sport
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bore — to drill
  24. field — for sport

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