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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. cell — a phone
  3. land — to come down
  4. march — the month
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. shower — to wash
  9. march — music
  10. land — a country
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. land — ground
  14. march — the month
  15. cell — in biology
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. shower — rain
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. foot — a measure

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