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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: hide · bat · lie · squash · hand · wind · kick · key

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hand — in cards
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. key — the most important part
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. key — for a lock
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. kick — in football
  15. squash — the sport
  16. key — in music
  17. hand — help
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — to recline
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. bat — 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