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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — to tease
  3. march — music
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. fall — the season
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. sharp — clever
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — from crying
  12. branch — a division
  13. march — the month
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. lie — to recline
  17. march — the month
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. tear — to rip
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. fall — to drop
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. dip — to sink

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