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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. scale — size or range
  3. chair — a leader
  4. land — a country
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. tear — from crying
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. land — to come down
  10. ground — crushed
  11. tear — from crying
  12. lie — to recline
  13. tear — to rip
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. land — ground
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. dip — to sink
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

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