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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. mate — to breed
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. ground — crushed
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pass — a permit
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. ground — a position
  16. lie — to recline
  17. chair — a leader
  18. ground — the earth
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mate — a partner
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  24. lie — an untruth

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