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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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. snap — to snap out of it
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. root — of a word
  6. cell — a phone
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. cell — in biology
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. snap — to click
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. root — of a plant
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. root — the cause
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. chair — a professorship

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