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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: last · firm · wind · hide · branch · lie · chair · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. last — to go on
  3. last — final
  4. last — finally
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. firm — steady
  7. firm — a company
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. lie — to recline
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. wind — moving air
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — moving air
  15. land — to come down
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. land — a country
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chair — a leader
  20. branch — a division
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. firm — decided
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. hide — to keep secret

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