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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 116 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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. saw — the tool
  5. club — for dancing
  6. lie — to recline
  7. cold — an illness
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. scale — in music
  10. pound — a weight
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. scale — size or range
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. club — for golf
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. bore — to tire
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. bore — to drill
  21. dip — to sink
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. club — a group

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