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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: wind · kick · lie · kid · bat · chair · row · wound

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. row — to paddle
  5. lie — to recline
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. bat — the animal
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wind — moving air
  19. row — a line
  20. kid — child
  21. kick — in football
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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