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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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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 · fall · pass · clip · lie · court · row · straw

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. court — of a king
  4. row — to paddle
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. fall — the season
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. court — of law
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. row — a line
  12. clip — a video
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. kid — to tease
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. clip — for paper
  21. clip — to cut
  22. kid — child
  23. court — for sport
  24. pass — a permit

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