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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. track — a path
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. swing — music
  7. swing — to play on
  8. hand — in cards
  9. track — to keep track
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. hand — help
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. rule — government
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. track — a song
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. dip — to sink
  23. swing — in golf
  24. lie — to recline

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