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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 124 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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. lie — to recline
  3. mine — for digging
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. spell — magic
  6. row — a line
  7. spell — a short time
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. dip — to sink
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. mug — a cup
  17. row — to paddle
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. spell — letters
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. kid — to tease
  24. mug — a face

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