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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. saw — the tool
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. sharp — clever
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. land — ground
  9. face — to confront
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. land — a country
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. file — a tool
  15. land — to come down
  16. file — a document
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a leader
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. rash — a series
  24. face — to point toward

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