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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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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: chair · cold · squash · fall · temple · lie · scale · bear

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — a leader
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bear — the animal
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. squash — the sport
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. squash — to crush
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lie — to recline
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. bear — the animal
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fall — the season

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