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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. wound — an injury
  4. chair — a leader
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. firm — a company
  8. wound — an injury
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. firm — steady
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. face — to point toward
  14. game — a match
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. firm — decided
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. game — wild animals

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