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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. When was this ________________ built?
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bear — the animal
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. chair — a leader
  5. key — for a lock
  6. key — the most important part
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. file — a tool
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. face — to point toward
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. face — part of the head
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. file — a document
  16. bear — the animal
  17. key — in music
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. face — to confront
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. pitch — completely
  23. file — a line of people
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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