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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 · roll · content · hand · mine · cell · kick · rule

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. roll — a list
  8. content — happy
  9. cell — a phone
  10. hand — in cards
  11. roll — a cake
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. lie — to recline
  14. hand — help
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — a law
  18. rule — government
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. cell — in biology
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. content — the amount
  23. mine — for digging
  24. kick — with a leg

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