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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bound · pitcher · cold · hide · plane · wave · race · mine

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. race — the arms race
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bound — tied together
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. plane — in geometry
  18. bound — certain
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. mine — for digging
  21. race — a contest
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. plane — a tool
  24. race — humankind

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