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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. field — a subject
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. field — farmland
  14. lie — to recline
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. nail — for a hammer

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