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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 water is too ________________.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ball — a great time
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. fall — to drop
  10. rush — hurry
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. roll — a list
  13. fall — to drop
  14. last — final
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. fall — the season
  17. last — to go on
  18. ball — a dance
  19. last — finally
  20. lie — to recline
  21. roll — a cake
  22. bat — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. lie — an untruth

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