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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. row — a line
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. row — to paddle
  8. capital — a city
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cold — an illness
  13. kid — child
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — the fish
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. chair — a leader
  22. capital — money
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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