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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. hand — help
  5. chest — of your body
  6. tear — to rip
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. field — a subject
  11. chest — of your body
  12. file — a line of people
  13. chair — a leader
  14. file — a tool
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. chest — a box
  17. lie — to recline
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. field — for sport
  20. tear — from crying
  21. file — a document
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. field — farmland

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