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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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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 · cold · kick · face · spell · court · straw · roll

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. court — for sport
  3. face — to confront
  4. kick — in football
  5. lie — to recline
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. spell — a short time
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. roll — a list
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spell — magic
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. face — to point toward
  21. court — of law
  22. face — part of the head
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. roll — a cake

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