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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.

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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. face — to confront
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. hand — in cards
  6. rash — hasty
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — in biology
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. deal — to handle
  12. degree — an amount
  13. hand — help
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. rule — government
  16. degree — from a university
  17. face — to point toward
  18. face — part of the head
  19. rash — a series
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. rule — a law
  23. cell — a phone
  24. chair — a professorship

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