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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  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. lie — to recline
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chair — a leader
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — an injury
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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