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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. drill — army training
  3. face — to point toward
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. drill — a practice
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. cell — in biology
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rock — music
  14. rock — a stone
  15. mine — for digging
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. saw — the tool
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. drill — the tool
  24. straw — dry grass

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