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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. spring — the season
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. bat — the animal
  13. spring — a coil
  14. pitch — completely
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spring — of water
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lie — to recline
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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