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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. face — to point toward
  3. face — to confront
  4. date — the fruit
  5. toast — bread
  6. march — the month
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. march — the month
  13. cold — an illness
  14. current — happening now
  15. march — music
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. current — of water
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. current — electric
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. face — part of the head
  24. cold — not warm

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