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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 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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. fall — the season
  3. clip — to cut
  4. lie — to recline
  5. fall — to drop
  6. swing — to play on
  7. kid — to tease
  8. swing — in golf
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. kid — child
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. swing — music

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