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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: cold · nail · face · fan · swing · squash · hide · spring

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. squash — to crush
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. face — part of the head
  5. squash — the sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — not warm
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. face — to confront
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. face — to point toward
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. nail — on a finger

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