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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.

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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: hide · stand · saw · dip · rest · cold · row · game

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. cold — not warm
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. saw — the tool
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. dip — to sink
  9. game — a match
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. row — a line
  18. game — wild animals
  19. row — to paddle
  20. rest — a break
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rest — what's left
  24. cold — an illness

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