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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: lie · tear · field · wind · drill · rule · cold · net

  1. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — to recline
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. net — for catching
  7. rule — government
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. field — a subject
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. tear — to rip
  13. field — for sport
  14. field — farmland
  15. drill — the tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. drill — army training
  18. net — after costs
  19. drill — a practice
  20. rule — a law
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — from crying
  24. net — in sport

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