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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: lie · chair · game · hide · bat · swing · file · rock

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. rock — music
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. game — wild animals
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. rock — a stone
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lie — to recline
  15. swing — to play on
  16. file — a tool
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. file — a line of people
  19. chair — a leader
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. swing — music
  23. file — a document
  24. swing — in golf

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