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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. chest — of your body
  7. net — for catching
  8. wind — moving air
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bass — the fish
  12. chest — a box
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — of your body
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. net — in sport
  21. net — after costs
  22. bass — low music
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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