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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 120 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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. lean — thin
  5. lie — to recline
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. current — happening now
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kick — in football
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — of law
  16. fall — to drop
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cold — not warm
  20. current — of water
  21. fall — the season
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lean — to rest against
  24. current — electric

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