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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 116 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chair — a leader
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. face — to confront
  6. ground — a position
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — for digging
  9. face — to point toward
  10. present — the time now
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. present — there
  13. cell — a phone
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — crushed
  22. present — a gift
  23. face — part of the head
  24. wave — with your hand

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