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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. cell — a phone
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mine — for digging
  5. season — in sport
  6. track — a song
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. lean — to bend
  10. lean — thin
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. tear — to rip
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ball — a dance
  15. lie — to recline
  16. track — to keep track
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. track — a path
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. season — of the year
  22. cell — in biology
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. mine — an explosive

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