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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. field — a subject
  3. march — the month
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. field — farmland
  10. lean — to bend
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bark — to shout
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. field — for sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. vault — a safe
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. lie — to recline
  23. march — music
  24. march — the month

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