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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. scale — size or range
  3. file — a document
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. face — to point toward
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. craft — a skill
  9. face — part of the head
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. shower — rain
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a tool
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. shower — to wash
  20. scale — in music
  21. bat — the animal
  22. craft — boats
  23. face — to confront
  24. bat — for baseball

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