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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: content · lie · chair · cold · tear · mouse · mine · safe

  1. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. cold — not warm
  3. lie — to recline
  4. tear — from crying
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. tear — from crying
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. cold — an illness
  22. content — happy
  23. content — the amount
  24. mouse — the animal

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