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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: chest · cell · straw · root · lie · saw · wake · tear

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. lie — to recline
  11. tear — from crying
  12. chest — of your body
  13. root — of a word
  14. chest — of your body
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. chest — a box
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cell — in biology
  21. wake — a trail
  22. root — of a plant
  23. root — the cause
  24. cell — a phone

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