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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 120 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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. staff — a stick
  3. clip — for paper
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. can — a tin
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. clip — a video
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. clip — to cut
  11. march — the month
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. march — the month
  14. can — a tin
  15. march — music
  16. lie — to recline
  17. staff — employees
  18. staff — employees
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. content — the amount
  21. can — to be able to
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. content — happy
  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