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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: stand · hand · cabinet · land · hide · bat · face · sharp

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. land — a country
  11. face — part of the head
  12. hand — in cards
  13. sharp — clever
  14. face — to confront
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. land — ground
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. face — to point toward
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. land — to come down
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. hide — to keep secret

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