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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 hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. cap — a lid
  3. spring — of water
  4. row — a line
  5. cap — of ice
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. cap — a hat
  8. tear — from crying
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. spring — the season
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. spring — a coil
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. row — to paddle
  18. current — of water
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. current — electric
  23. current — happening now
  24. mine — belonging to me

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