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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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Word bank
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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 · stem · bat · hand · cabinet · lie · sharp · saw

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  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. saw — past of 'see'
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. stem — to come from
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bat — the animal
  7. hand — help
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cold — an illness
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lie — an untruth
  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