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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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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 · safe · cell · bore · hide · game · race · chest

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. game — wild animals
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. cell — a phone
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. race — humankind
  11. cell — in biology
  12. game — a match
  13. race — a contest
  14. race — the arms race
  15. bore — to tire
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chest — a box
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. chest — of your body
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bore — to drill

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