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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. fork — in a road
  3. face — to point toward
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — a gift
  7. face — part of the head
  8. chair — a leader
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. kid — child
  12. present — there
  13. land — ground
  14. mark — a trace
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mark — a grade
  17. file — a document
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. file — a tool
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. file — a line of people

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