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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. bound — certain
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. face — to confront
  6. bound — obliged
  7. swing — in golf
  8. chair — a leader
  9. face — part of the head
  10. land — a country
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. land — ground
  14. land — to come down
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. swing — to play on
  18. wax — to grow
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. face — to point toward
  22. swing — music
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. bound — tied together

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