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

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. 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. lean — to rest against
  2. game — a match
  3. hand — in cards
  4. face — to confront
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cap — a hat
  7. can — a tin
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. hand — help
  10. can — a tin
  11. chair — a leader
  12. saw — the tool
  13. lean — to bend
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. can — to be able to
  16. cap — a lid
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. face — part of the head
  20. lean — thin
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cap — of ice
  23. face — to point toward
  24. 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