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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fall — to drop
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. saw — the tool
  10. fall — to drop
  11. squash — the sport
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. saw — the tool
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. lie — to recline
  17. chest — of your body
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. chest — a box
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. ball — a great time
  23. fall — the season
  24. ball — a dance

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