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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. game — a match
  3. face — part of the head
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. band — a music group
  8. stand — to bear
  9. face — to point toward
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. file — a document
  12. present — a gift
  13. file — a line of people
  14. file — a tool
  15. game — wild animals
  16. present — the time now
  17. face — to confront
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. scale — size or range
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. band — a ring
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. scale — in music
  24. stand — on your feet

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