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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. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. file — a line of people
  8. deal — to handle
  9. chest — a box
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spring — a coil
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. chair — a leader
  14. face — part of the head
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chest — of your body
  18. face — to confront
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — the season
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. spring — of water

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