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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · lie · bat · cold · dip · hide · key · prune

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. key — for a lock
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. cold — an illness
  5. key — in music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. key — the most important part
  10. dip — to sink
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. bat — the animal
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. prune — to trim

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