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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wake — a trail
  3. saw — the tool
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. chest — of your body
  7. face — to confront
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. face — part of the head
  11. face — to point toward
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. rush — hurry
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chest — a box
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. chair — a leader
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. chest — of your body

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