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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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. current — electric
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. bass — the fish
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bass — low music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. ball — a great time
  16. ball — a dance
  17. current — happening now
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. lean — thin
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — in cards
  24. current — of water

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