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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. cell — in biology
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. face — part of the head
  5. cap — of ice
  6. fall — to drop
  7. land — ground
  8. cap — a lid
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. land — to come down
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cap — a hat
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. face — to confront
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. land — a country
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. face — to point toward
  21. cell — a phone
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. fall — the season

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