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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 120 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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. file — a document
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. field — a subject
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. field — farmland
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. field — for sport
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. bat — the animal
  12. file — a tool
  13. rush — hurry
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. prune — to trim
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. chair — a leader
  21. face — to confront
  22. file — a line of people
  23. face — part of the head
  24. prune — to trim

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