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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. race — a contest
  3. game — wild animals
  4. snap — to click
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. face — to point toward
  7. rock — a stone
  8. rock — music
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. face — part of the head
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. game — a match
  15. race — humankind
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. face — to confront
  19. clip — to cut
  20. race — the arms race
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. clip — a video

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