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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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. march — music
  4. lie — to recline
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stem — to come from
  8. chip — for betting
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. march — the month
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. club — for golf
  15. club — for dancing
  16. march — the month
  17. chip — to eat
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. club — a group
  22. mark — a grade
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. mark — a trace

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