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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.

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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · stock · staff · racket · lie · fall · tear · hide

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. stock — shares
  4. cold — an illness
  5. staff — employees
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. fall — the season
  10. staff — employees
  11. tear — to rip
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. stock — goods
  17. cold — not warm
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. fall — to drop
  24. staff — a stick

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