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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: kid · drill · current · wind · tear · lie · hide · fall

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. wind — moving air
  4. current — electric
  5. drill — the tool
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. fall — the season
  10. drill — a practice
  11. current — happening now
  12. drill — army training
  13. tear — from crying
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. kid — to tease
  18. current — of water
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — child
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. fall — to drop
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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