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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.

Make a worksheet

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 · tube · rest · game · mine · fall · net · bat

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rest — a break
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. net — after costs
  8. game — a match
  9. lie — to recline
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. fall — to drop
  12. net — in sport
  13. tube — a container
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. fall — the season
  17. rest — what's left
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. net — for catching
  21. tube — in a tire
  22. bat — the animal
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — wild animals

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