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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. face — part of the head
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. scale — in music
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. scale — size or range
  9. face — to point toward
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — in football
  18. file — a document
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. file — a tool
  23. chair — a leader
  24. file — a line of people

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