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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. lie — to recline
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. stand — to bear
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. field — a subject
  8. clip — to cut
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — for sport
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. field — farmland
  17. clip — for paper
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. clip — a video
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. fall — the season

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