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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: straw · chair · cold · snap · fall · lie · face · cabinet

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. face — to point toward
  3. cold — not warm
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. lie — to recline
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. fall — to drop
  13. face — part of the head
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. fall — the season
  19. chair — a leader
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. face — to confront
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. snap — to click

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