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

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. mate — a partner
  3. mate — to breed
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. face — to point toward
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. scale — in music
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. file — a tool
  13. scale — size or range
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. face — to confront
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. stem — to come from
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. mate — a friend
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a line of people

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