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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: calf · face · cold · land · mine · stand · hide · cell

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. I can't ________________ this cold.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. face — to point toward
  5. land — a country
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. face — to confront
  9. stand — to bear
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. mine — for digging
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. face — part of the head
  19. cell — in biology
  20. land — ground
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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