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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. swing — to play on
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. lie — to recline
  8. land — to come down
  9. tear — from crying
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. land — ground
  14. land — a country
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. game — a match
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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