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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: tear · foot · bass · object · bound · lie · cell · snap

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bound — obliged
  3. lie — to recline
  4. tear — to rip
  5. object — to protest
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bound — certain
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. object — an aim
  11. bound — tied together
  12. foot — a measure
  13. object — a thing
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in biology
  16. bass — the fish
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. tear — from crying
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. tear — from crying
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. bass — low music

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