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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 116 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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. object — to protest
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. bass — low music
  9. degree — temperature
  10. object — an aim
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. object — a thing
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. row — to paddle
  19. cold — not warm
  20. degree — from a university
  21. degree — an amount
  22. row — a line
  23. lie — to recline
  24. cold — an illness

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