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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. lie — to recline
  3. board — to get on
  4. stock — shares
  5. field — a subject
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. stock — goods
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tear — from crying
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. kick — in football
  16. board — a committee
  17. cold — an illness
  18. field — farmland
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. field — for sport
  24. bat — the animal

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