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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. land — ground
  3. toast — bread
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. chest — of your body
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. chest — a box
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. land — a country
  15. wind — moving air
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lie — to recline
  18. clip — to cut
  19. land — to come down
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — of your body
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bowl — a dish

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